Alumni engage students long after graduation
The Alumni Association headquarters across from the campus where all its members once attended. GILBERT CISNEROS/UVU REVIEW
Education, degrees, endless opportunities and lifelong friends are just a few of the things that most students come out with at the end of their college careers. With all the focus on what students gain from their education here, it’s easy to forget to give back.
The Alumni Association is a non-profit volunteer organization that is run by an alumni board made up of twenty members.
This purpose of the association, according to Parker Donat, former Student Alumni Association president and current member of the UVU Review staff, is to “wake the sleeping giant that is the UVU alumni.” In doing this, the university would have more support to compensate for the imminent explosive growth in the student body and the campus itself.
Many think that to be alumni students have to graduate from the institution, but any person who has taken at least eighteen credits from UVU qualify for alumni status, even if these credits were completed under one of UVU’s former names.
The Alumni Association is active in the Utah Valley community and in the university itself, holding many events each year such as Founders Day, and the Alumni Family Fair, where alumni and students can bring their families for a pancake breakfast, music, and entertainment. The association provides feedback and suggestions to the UVU administration. It also sponsors, among many other things, the UVU magazine, Homecoming, and the Student Alumni Association.
The office, or mansion as it is better known, is located on 519 W. 1200 S. just southeast of campus, and is also home to the Student Alumni Association. The Student Alumni Association, or “the arm of the Alumni Association” as Donat calls it, exists to create a positive influence among students and educate the student body on the importance of being active alumni to the school.
The student alumni hold a weekly pancake breakfast every Wednesday from 8-10 a.m. to promote involvement in the association. Besides receiving free breakfast once a week students are able to get to have great networking opportunities with alumni, give back to the university and community and learn professional leadership skills.
“Being a member is a good way to give back, like good karma,” Donat said.
Written by Bailey Potts