As I talk with alumni across the country and around the world, I’m often asked:
“What can I do to support our College? I don’t live near an Alumni Association chapter and it’s difficult for me to attend events in downtown (name the city).”
I always answer that, while donations are vital to our College’s present and future, there is a lot more that alumni can do to support our College that involves interaction with students, faculty, and staff and hands-on activity.
Our volunteers will gather this fall for ImpactCMC: 2014, a comprehensive volunteer weekend to be held October 10-12. The weekend is a fortunate result of last fall’s highly successful
Inauguration Weekend for President Hiram Chodosh. During that weekend, several CMC volunteer groups held their meetings, including the CMCAA Board, the Board of Trustees, and our young
alumni organization, Forum for the Future. These concurrent meetings resulted in a synergy and energy that met everyone’s highest expectations. We realized just how important it was for our alumni volunteers to come together, see each other, exchange ideas, and draw motivation from our common love for our College.
Though we’re a nationally- and internationally-recognized institution of higher learning, we’re also a College with a relatively small alumni base. In large metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Denver, and elsewhere, our alumni chapters consist of two to three hundred members. That is substantial, yet the downtown Kiwanis club might have just as many members. So, it’s important that we make sure our volunteers get the recognition and camaraderie that they deserve. That’s another reason for ImpactCMC: 2014.
If you are a CMC volunteer, I urge you to attend the weekend. Not only will you be encouraged, motivated, and inspired, but you’ll also be trained and educated in volunteer leadership. These are lessons that you’ll be able to apply to all of your volunteer and civic activities.
If you are not yet a CMC volunteer, there are many activities that you can engage in to help our College, our students, and our alumni.
If you are among our younger alumni, you may be eligible to belong to Forum for the Future, an organization dedicated to training and engaging young leaders. Those who are established in their careers and have a particular passion around ideas, scholarship, and student research are encouraged to reach out to our 11 institutes about their individual advisory board leadership. It’s also an ideal opportunity to interact with some of our fantastic students.
Alumni volunteers also are important in the admission process. Alumni interviews provide a dual role: They add to the overall assessment picture of applicants, but, more important, they are able to promote our unique blend of liberal arts education and leadership development to potential students. Research by the Office of Admission shows that high school seniors who meet
with alumni interviewers are more likely to apply than those who do not.
Beyond these opportunities, we have chapter leaders, class liaisons, class ambassadors, new student party hosts, CMS alumni team liaisons, and more. Each of these volunteer positions allows our alumni to apply their own unique skills and interests to helping our College grow and succeed.
If you are a current alumni volunteer, I look forward to seeing you during ImpactCMC: 2014. More information, including details of the tailgate party and CMS Homecoming game on Saturday night, is available at: online.cmc.edu/ImpactCMC
If you are not yet a volunteer but would like to be one, please contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at (909) 621-8097 or alumni@cmc.edu. They’ll be glad to hear from you!
Crescit cvm commercio civitas,
John McDowell ’79 2013-15 CMCAA President