Reconnect with Your Alma Mater
You graduated and accepted your first call or job teaching, and now you’re busy with life and all the blessings that God has brought to you and your family in the months and years since. So why would you want to reconnect with your alma mater? This is the question I asked as I recently began serving my alma mater, Concordia University, Nebraska, as the director of alumni and university relations.
I am here “to engage alumni and friends of the university through a variety of programs, events and communication.” As a former educator, I intuitively asked myself, “What is the ‘behavior’ we want to see from the learner? What defines engagement?” In addition, “What is the ‘value add’ to the alum?”
So why would you want to reconnect with your alma mater?The #1 value-add that Concordia offers alums was perfectly demonstrated at our 50th reunion celebration for the Class of 1966. RELATIONSHIPS. The genuine love and connection that I see in the eyes of our alumni walking into their class reunion and connecting with former classmates, teammates, roommates, or friends is what shines above all else. The room fills with memories and new stories to share, and through each hug and warm embrace, the alumni experience the blessings of reconnecting with their alma mater.
Many from the Class of 1966 were educators who went on to serve throughout the world. From small-town Iowa to parts of China, from two-room schoolhouses to large, public universities, their impact reaches far beyond the small town of Seward, Nebraska, where they started gaining personal and professional experiences that have influenced them throughout their lives. But, despite their varied life experiences, they felt compelled to come home to Concordia—to come back together to celebrate and continue the relationships and connections that ignited 50 years ago and still last today.
First, PRAY. Asking our 22,000+ alumni to pray for Concordia University, Nebraska—for our students, faculty, staff, alums, and friends—is so powerful. Everyone can participate, whether they graduated last year or 50 years ago. We have begun to develop programs centered on this theme, like publishing a prayer card and web page to tell alumni about the university’s current prayer needs. We’re also connecting current students to alumni as prayer partners. Nothing is so big or so small that an army of God’s believers can’t pray about it, and God is faithful to hear and answer our prayers. This is the power of prayer!
More than 70 percent of our students chose Concordia because someone they know encouraged them to check us out! Next, REFER. Concordia University, Nebraska, is blessed with a growing student body, and more than 70 percent of our students chose Concordia because someone they know encouraged them to check us out! What a blessing to grow through word of mouth!
In addition, we have begun to focus on helping current church workers think about their impact on the future of our church—who will further extend God’s kingdom now, as well as continue their work after they retire? Can the church be proactive in building our team of future pastors, DCEs, teachers, and deaconesses? Yes, of course! We encourage our alumni to think about the next generation of church workers and be purposeful in identifying youth who may consider fulfilling these callings. We ask alumni to encourage them, bring them to campus, and refer them to Concordia.
Lastly, GIVE BACK. As an institution focused on servant leadership, we want to provide our alumni with opportunities for partnership and volunteerism. Supporting Concordia students at athletic and music events, offering internship or career opportunities, organizing reunions and gatherings—these are ways our alumni can GIVE BACK to each other and our entire Concordia family. Moreover, Concordia is blessed with more than 22 percent of our alumni who support the university financially. These gifts directly provide an affordable Lutheran, Christ-centered education to the students of today and the future, so they can learn, serve, and lead in both the church and the world.
Your alma mater is a valuable resource for ideas, connections, and support while you explore your options. As we strive to grow engagement and bring value to our alumni, we also offer opportunities for continuing education through our graduate school programs and career services department. Both are great resources for lifelong learning and development. Whether you are looking for ways to advance your career, seeking professional or personal growth, or making a full career change, your alma mater is a valuable resource for ideas, connections, and support while you explore your options.
Life gets busy and jobs and family needs move members of our “Concordia family” farther apart, but taking time to reconnect has been priceless to our alumni and to me. I feel blessed to be a servant leader working each day with the Concordia University, Nebraska family and seeing the blessings that overflow as our alumni reconnect.
I encourage each of you to find ways to reconnect with your alma mater—you will find value beyond your expectations. And I extend an open invitation for each of you to join our Concordia family!
For more information, ways to connect or details about upcoming events, please visit Concordia Alumni, see our alumni Facebook page, or contact Jennifer Furr, director of alumni and university relations at Concordia University, Nebraska, at jennifer.furr@cune.edu or 402-643-7341.
Jennifer (Anderson) Furr is director of alumni and university relations at Concordia University, Nebraska.
