Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2020

THEREAREMORETHAN15,000 living alumni of Southwestern University, over 15,000 highly educated and talented people. Each has an array of skills developed from a lifetime of experience. For the last two years, the Alumni Council and the University have beenworking to develop newways to engage the skills and expertise of these 15,000 SU alumni in the work and life of the University. Throughour conversations, wehavebegunaprocess that may take several years to bring to maturity. With each step, we hope tofindnewways to connect the work of SU with the talents of the alumni community. The Office of Alumni and Parent Relations recently secured a grant from the Network for Vocation inUndergraduateEducation(NetVue) that will develop and enhance vocational exploration for students, including honoraria to bring 20 skilled, experienced alumni to campus to work with professors and students during a two-year period. Within the initiative, a group of 13 faculty members is examining theways students find their future path. This group is finding exciting synergies across departments and offices, including the Mosaic and SOAR (Skills, Opportunities, Action, Results) programs, which are engaging alumni to provide students advice and mentorship on work and life issues. At the same time, alumni have been working on professional development, the development of new internships, and support of first-generation students. As we look forward, we are asking three big questions: Howdowe identify areas where alumni can be of assistance to the work of the University? How do we best communicate opportunities for alumni assistance to the alumni community. And how do we best connect alumni so that they complement the work of the University? The Southwestern alumni body—15,000 strong— is a uniquely dynamic and powerful resource. Our job going forward is to find the right ways to take advantage of that resource. Stay tuned. A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N Furthering Alumni Engagement B Y C H A R L I E O L S O N ' 7 8 President, Southwestern University Alumni Association 6 SOUTHWESTERN First Day of Classes Aug. 24, 2020 Homecoming Oct. 23–25, 2020 Candlelight Dec. 3, 2020 Charter Day (includes Spring Family Day) Feb. 3–5, 2021 Inauguration of Southwestern's 16th President Feb. 4, 2021 Brown Symposium Feb. 17–18, 2021 Commencement May 8, 2021 Mark your calendar for these upcoming events in the 2020–2021 academic year: Visit www.southwestern.edu to view the University calendar, which includes athletics events, fine-arts performances, local chapter events in your area, and other University functions.