The Importance and Value of Maintaining
Positive Alumni Relations
By PETE MANNING
National Director of Alumni Affairs
Alpha Delta Gamma has always had the luxury of being the hybrid of a large national and a small non-affiliated fraternity. We are large enough to have chapters nationwide, a large active and alumni base, conventions, and so on. Yet we are small enough that we know our brother's names, we get to know our National Executive Council and have direct access to them, and have the ability to be part of the great wealth of getting to know our alumni members.
I have seen first-hand the multitude of alumni members we have across the country. As a member of Xi Chapter I have been on both sides of the coin and seen how much help and how good a group of brothers our alumni are. By coming together, pooling our resources, and using our collective knowledge, Alpha Delta Gamma can become an even more organized, more efficient, and more successful fraternity.
I was appointed Director of Alumni Affairs in January. Basically, I am here to try and obtain as much information as possible from each chapter regarding their alumni, and also to dispense as much information to the active and alumni membership as I have gathered. My goal is to create a national database with every alumni included. Believe it or not, this can be accomplished, as long as everyone works as a team to get this completed. Many Delts believe that a database would be a useful tool, not only in communicating what is going on locally and nationally, but also as a way of keeping brothers active and participating in their chapters, and helping to grow and develop them.
Also by having a current database, if a brother moves away from his local chapter, he can get in contact with brothers in his new area. I know that if I ever moved away from Louisville, it would be great to click on a link on our website and be able to find brothers in my new town. I am optimistic that within the next year we can be very close to having that available to our active and alumni members.
Now I know what some of you actives and alumni are thinking: "What's the point of doing all of that work? Alumni and actives want different things from ADG." That is correct -- alumni and actives do want different things, which is why the relationship works so well. Alpha Delta Gamma attracts many different men, who each have their own personal reasons for joining. Once becoming a brother, each brings his own unique perspective, talents, and ideas to the table. That said, our alumni membership is very rich and diverse as well. This diversity makes ADG stronger by helping the actives in everyday situations on campus. Even though alumni may have graduated five, 10, or even 20 years ago from their respective campuses, they still have faced the same issues in some way, shape, or form that face our current actives.
I know our Xi alumni have helped us resolve various issues at Bellarmine University, thanks to their connections to the administration,
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which helped our chapter establish a good dialogue enabling both sides to better understand each other.
The alumni at a chapter can help with ADG traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. In 2002 we had a very good alumni presence during our candidacy period. Due to their participation we restored some of our lost traditions, while learning their significance and understanding their true meanings, which I never learned in the four years I was an active. By sitting down and talking to the alumni of my chapter, I learned a lot which would not have been possible had we not kept good lines of communication open.
Something else you may be asking: "Pete, we know we have alumni around our area somewhere, but we never hear from them or see them." Well, time to start using the phone or the computer and get everyone together for a social function. Make sure you plan the event well and give alumni plenty of advance notice - at least four to six weeks. For example, have an ADG golf scramble and pair people of different candidate classes together on one team. Or hold a cookout before a school athletic event and invite alumni to bring their families.
I believe our alumni like to be involved with their chapters and see how things are going. Most alumni will pitch in and lend a hand if the actives ask for it and it is a reasonable request. You won't know unless you ask. I know just about every chapter I have ever been to has been surprised with some of the things their alumni will do, and how much time and effort they will put in to making a party, a candidate class, a philanthropic event, etc. a success. Remember that alumni were once actives, and your chapter is their chapter too.
ADG's strength lies in the talented people who make up our brotherhood. Our diversity helps us to think outside the box. By utilizing every active and alumnus, we can turn new ideas into actions, which will help us outdo our competition and make us one of the premier fraternities in the country. We all make each other better brothers, better citizens, and better men. I cannot imagine being part of any other fraternity, or a group of men that I would rather have the honor of calling my brothers. When I was an active, the alumni were like older brothers to me - they passed on their knowledge to help me avoid pitfalls and bumps in the road. Now that I am an alumnus, I hope to do as good a job for those who come after me. I am also still learning from the actives of my chapter and others, which has made me a better person, and helped me to learn more about the world I live in.
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