ALUMS FOSTER PARTNERSHIPS FOR BENNIES & JOHNNIES

In these challenging times for higher education, Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict are reaching out to their most precious resources – their alumni and alumnae – to make invaluable connections with future generations of Johnnies and Bennies.

“We’ve been relying on our alums for many reasons over the years,” said Matt Beirne, Director of Admission at Saint John’s and Saint Benedict. “We rely on them for word-ofmouth and referrals, and also a lot of our alums have sent their children to Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s.”

But with everything happening in recent years – the COVID pandemic, inflation, social unrest, the loss of a prominent federal loan program and changing student demographics, among other reasons – institutions across the country face a myriad of problems. They need new innovations to help deal with the realities of the higher education landscape.

“We’ve had a wonderful partnership and relation with our alums for decades, but we needed to have something more formalized,” Beirne said.

That’s why CSB and SJU jointly launched the Enrollment Partners Program (csbsju.edu/admission/enroll-partners), which is in its fourth year and gives 110 alum volunteers a myriad of opportunities to help.

“This is kind of a new way to envision a partnership with our alums, a more tangible, real way to contribute,” Beirne said. ”Our alums can be a little more engaged in the process.”

That engagement can mean serving as an admission event panelist, a college fair assistant or as a young alum ambassador.

It can provide support as an admitted student mentor or create a personal video message that can be shared with prospective students and their families.

Through an associated referral program, it also allows alums to offer $1,000 annual scholarships to prospective CSB and SJU students.

“Everybody wants to help – they just don’t know how,” Beirne said. “The easy thing for us to say is ‘refer a student.’

“How? Go to the web site. Go to our student page. You can tell students you’re going to give them $1,000 a year.”

And that’s a great feeling – for everyone involved.

“The power of a real alum talking with a real student faceto-face and encouraging them to look at Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s – that’s the most valuable thing we’ve got,” Beirne said.

“We have the passion of alums who can speak to the transformative experience of being Johnnies and Bennies. I see it all the time.”

For more information, contact Beirne at mbeirne@csbsju.edu.