Message from the Alumni Office

In the past six years, I have seen many evolutions in our alumni engagement efforts, from alumni-driven adjustments in the timing of certain events and communications to the sudden pivots necessitated by the pandemic. Not only did faculty and staff adapt to these changes, but so did our wider community. We so appreciated the flexibility and willingness of our alumni to attend our modified and digital events over the past two years while remaining active members of the AFS community.

We have missed seeing alumni back on campus, but we managed to find new and creative ways to connect during the pandemic. Like so many, we turned to online tools like Zoom to bring our alumni community together. In the first year of the pandemic, we hosted our first virtual Alumni Meeting for Worship, and more than 60 alumni joined the meeting. During this time of reflection, many voiced the need to connect virtually to get through the challenging times as a community. What we thought would be a one-time virtual meeting for worship became a reoccurrence. This year, we are thrilled to be returning to traditional in-person alumni events on our beloved campus.

There is no denying that gathering in-person is irreplaceable, yet we know travel to campus can be more challenging for those who are at a greater distance. We have seen clear evidence that our virtual events expand our reach to many more alumni around the globe – we had alumni attend from Arizona to Israel! We even saw alumni who had not been back to campus in years or in some cases, ever. So, in 2022, we will take a hybrid approach to our events to strengthen connections with our alumni both near and far by offering a combination of virtual and in-person events. We will continue to share AFS news through our monthly newsletter, Roo News as well as Oak Leaves and our recently launched alumni network platform AFSconnect. I encourage all AFS alumni, alumni parents and former faculty and staff to register with AFSconnect. We see an opportunity for alumni to engage with each other on a deeper and more meaningful basis through this network. Likewise, as we expand our Center for Experiential Learning, we hope to connect current students with alumni for mentorship and learning opportunities. By increasing the number of registered alumni, we plan to build an online career network, job and internship board to support students and alumni within the AFS community.

We are committed to forging strong, meaningful relationships with our alumni. We hope you will visit campus, join us for in-person or virtual events and register on AFSconnect. And, if this year is a milestone reunion for you, please reach out. The Alumni Office will support your class reunion, on or offcampus, virtual or in-person, to help bring your class together. Keep an eye out for communications about events this winter and save the date for our first AFS Community Trivia Night on May 19. We have so much to look forward to in our joyful AFS alumni community.

Warmly,

Lisa Budd

Director of Alumni Engagement