| Letter
from the Publisher
This issue launches the second year of @UCSD and
we are delighted to have restarted a dialogue with you. Your responses
have been very positive. Membership has recently grown by almost
40 percent, event attendance more than doubled, and alumni giving
increased in both gross totals and number of donors.
What’s most exciting is we
are getting a similar response from undergraduates. In increasing
numbers, they’re telling
us they want more spirit and stronger traditions. They crave a
greater sense of community and connection to UCSD’s history.
The discussion is so loud, that during her first month on the job,
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox named a commission to evaluate undergraduate
student life. We are proud that three alumni, including co-chair
Joseph Leventhal, ’99, serve on this committee.
The point is, amidst this clamor, students are asking for more
alumni interaction. More than ever, students seek career
internships—in
San Diego, near home during summer, or other places. This past
year, we reinstated
alumni career
industry panels and the response was so overwhelming
that, at one event, the fire marshall made us turn students away.
This year, we are searching for alumni
expertise in all industries to serve as panelists and informational
interviewers. Preuss School students need mentors. The student
life study is assembling regional feedback groups. The new Alumni
Leadership Scholarship seeks application readers and interviewers.
Our regional and affinity chapter
leaders are looking for local
event assistance. Alumni are needed to convince admitted students
to choose UCSD. Annual state budget cuts point out the desperate
need for alumni to ask their Sacramento legislators to maintain
critical UC funding. Student debt is at an all-time high, so scholarship
gifts of all sizes are more important than ever. Most of these
activities are available to alumni, wherever you live.
You see, this is what we do. This is what we need.
This year, we will celebrate the commencement of UCSD’s
100,000th graduate. This is a watershed
moment for UCSD. A small but devoted cadre of alumni volunteers
has positioned us remarkably well over the years. But this milestone
indicates that we are no longer a youthful campus. We can no longer
claim our alumni base is too small or too young. The students know
it, and they are hoping we can help them along their way to becoming
supportive alumni themselves.
We know you are busy. We won’t ask for any more time than
you are willing to offer. What we promise is fun. Today’s
students, despite their staggering 4.10 GPAs and 1420 SATs, really
aren’t that geeky. They have a youthful spirit and intellect
that’s contagious and energizing. I’m guessing you’ll
love giving some of our programs a shot.
If you are interested in learning
more about volunteer
opportunities, please check out our website
or call our
office at (866) UCSD-ALUM.
John Valva
Executive Director, UCSD Alumni Association |
