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October 20, 2008
Reaching out to and beyond alumni this fall

Eric Rangus is the director of communications for the Emory Alumni Association.

The Emory Alumni Association isn’t just about Emory alumni.

Though that phrase may sound suspiciously like a slogan, it’s not. Mainly because it would be a really bad one.

Clunky vernacular aside, the EAA reaches out to a variety of constituents. While serving Emory’s 105,000 alumni is certainly important and arguably why we exist, our relationships go deeper than that. In fact, many of our proudest moments come when we can involve alumni in the Emory community that goes beyond themselves.

For instance, when alumni and parents partner to lead a service project for Emory Cares International Service Day, we feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Creating that partnership and nurturing its growth is what we are about. But that’s not all we are about.

The EAA is about students. More than 200 sophomores gathered in Cox Hall on Oct. 7 to receive their sophomore pins — symbolic of their completion of two semesters as Emory students, which earns them the right to be called “alumni.”

“You are Emory’s present and it’s future,” said Paul McLarty ’63C–’66L, president-elect of the Emory Alumni Board, during his congratulatory address. “May you carry on our tradition of excellence and pride in our alma mater.”

The EAA is about faculty. On Oct. 16, four faculty members — Merle Black (political science), Art Kellermann ’80M (emergency medicine), J.B. Kurish (business), and Robert Schapiro (law) — spoke on “The 2008 Elections” to more than 120 alumni at Faculty Destinations: New York. Presenting faculty speakers to alumni audiences is nothing new, though. In fact, our Destinations speaker series is one of the EAA’s most popular programs.

An EAA alumni panel, “Insight Into the 2008 Election,” featuring former Sen. Wyche Fowler ’69L (D-Ga.) and former head of the Christian Coalition Ralph Reed ’91PhD was attended by some 200 alumni in Atlanta the same day. And on Oct. 30, Black will make an EAA encore appearance at Faculty Destinations: Nashville, less than one week before the election.

The EAA is about staff. “4EU” means “Emory Educated, Emory Employed,” a new partnership between the EAA and the Emory Annual

Fund. Some 3,000 Emory alumni work for the University and 4EU is a new way to bring them together. On Nov. 20, 4EU will host an exclusive tour of the King Tut companion exhibition, “Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun” at the Carlos Museum.

And the EAA is about alumni. We’re about involving alumni in every aspect of the University. Encouraging alumni to volunteer, mentor students and fellow alumni, attend University events, and in the wake of the public launch of Campaign Emory, contribute to their alma mater in a variety of ways, is our job. And we’ve very happy with the way things are going.

The EAA is still basking in the glow of our largest Emory Homecoming Weekend ever. Some 4,000 guests attended events across campus, Sept. 26–28. We use the term “guests,” because we are still breaking down the numbers in terms of alumni, students, parents, faculty and staff. They mixed so well, we are still sifting through the names trying to figure out who’s who.