Alumnae Involvement: What are you doing now?

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Lyrebird

I think I may be even more active as an alumna than I was as a collegian!

Me too. I was initiated as a junior (got my bid at the end of soph year) so I was only active for 2.5 years. I held several chairs, but I was never an officer (I was trying to do way too much in undergrad and didn't want to get too overwhelmed).

Since graduation I've done a lot more for Sigma than I probably did in undergrad (probably because I didn't get burned out due to only being active a short time).

I think it just shows that you don't necessarily have to have been past president, 4 year active, super Suzy sorority in order to contribute as an alumna. There are some alumnae who are reluctant to volunteer because they weren't in big leadership roles in undergrad and think the sorority can't use them. Not true!

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I think it just shows that you don't necessarily have to have been past president, 4 year active, super Suzy sorority in order to contribute as an alumna. There are some alumnae who are reluctant to volunteer because they weren't in big leadership roles in undergrad and think the sorority can't use them. Not true!

This is so true. A lot of times when I try to recruit alumni to be involved in my chapter they say "Oh, well I was just a regular member/lowly committee chairman/whatever, I don't think I know enough about how the Fraternity operates to contribute." OK, so they don't usually admit to not knowing how the Fraternity operates, but it's an underlying factor. Its frustrating (I think more so in fraternities. because we often have less advisors than NPCs do) because most of the time we just need a body who's willing to be physically present for us and contribute an adult member's opinion. I would rather get a blah advisor who's willing to show up to things and have him turn into a superstar during his term of service than a undergrad rockstar who's too busy to actively support the chapter as an alumnus.

[RaggedyAnn]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I think it just shows that you don't necessarily have to have been past president, 4 year active, super Suzy sorority in order to contribute as an alumna. There are some alumnae who are reluctant to volunteer because they weren't in big leadership roles in undergrad and think the sorority can't use them. Not true!

Originally Posted by Gusteau

This is so true. A lot of times when I try to recruit alumni to be involved in my chapter they say "Oh, well I was just a regular member/lowly committee chairman/whatever, I don't think I know enough about how the Fraternity operates to contribute."

I agree with both of you. I've recruited many alumnae volunteers and often that is a big fear factor, or the fact that they've been out of touch for a while. I always try and get them to realize that they're a sister and that's the biggest requirement. Everything else really can be learned. Often I talk to them about their out of school experience and how I can see them in certain positions because of that. People often don't think of how their out of GLO experience can greatly contribute to a chapter or their organization.