Get Involved with CLA
Forging New Friendships: CLA Alumni Find Ways to Reconnect
Each one of us who have called the College of Liberal Arts our academic home received a gift of education, which has shaped us in different ways.
Perhaps over your life you’ve remembered something an adviser said to you or fun times with campus friends. Perhaps you’ve been thankful to your history professor, your language instructor, or a classmate for lessons learned.
photo by Terry Faust
Perhaps you’ve wished for a way to express your thanks.
Through the activities of the CLA Alumni Society, alumni like you can give back to the college and get something in return.
CLA Alumni Society member Paul Meierant has some thoughts on this subject. He is currently the president of the CLA Alumni Society Board and has served on it since 2002.
In his work on the board, Meierant feels that he is improving the college. “When I went through the U, I knew it was a good school, but things could be better.” You can complain, he thought, or take your ideas and try to make things better.
President-elect Wendy Blackshaw says, “When I was in school, it was a more impersonal process. The University is moving toward giving students a more personal experience—more like a smaller school.”
Helping Students
photo by Terry Faust
Through its events, activities, and committees, the CLA Alumni Society is a force in shaping students’ experiences and the college.
For example, the Student Relations Committee works with the CLA Mentor Program, which pairs students with alumni based on professional interests.
“The Mentor Program is for anyone” says Meierant. “Look back on when you were a student. What did you think you would be doing? Where did you end up?” The strength of the Mentor Program is to give students insights into professions.
Looking for other ways to help out students? Students also need volunteers for informational interviews, job shadowing, and mock interviews. Alumni also serve on professional panels for career workshops.
Making Connections
The Alumni Relations Committee is the group that invites you to alumni get-togethers like the fall event at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. “We plan our events to be non-structured,” says Paul. “People can stay as long as they like. These events are meant to help people get to know each other.”
The Academic Programming Committee works to communicate to the public CLA's value as a state resource. One of this committee’s efforts was the launching of the Access Minnesota radio program.
The reasons that people get involved in the alumni society’s activities are as different as the individuals themselves. Yet, all have a desire to connect to CLA. For Wendy Blackshaw, being on the board is “like forming a new relationship with CLA.”
Blackshaw also notes that alumni can support CLA and the University without serving on committees. Some alumni have contributed through their employers: hiring CLA graduates, providing corporate sponsorships, discounts, freebies, and so on.
“Giving back makes things better,” says Blackshaw. “I'm making CLA and the U better places than I had hoped for, and I hope someone else in the future will do the same.”
Getting Involved
The CLA Alumni Society board is seeking members with a variety of backgrounds to serve on the board and committees. For more information, contact CLA Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Coordinator Erica Giorgi at 612-625-8837 or giorg003@umn.edu.
If you would like to learn more about hiring CLA graduates, getting involved in the Mentor Program, or volunteering to share information about your career, contact CLA Career and Community Learning Center Employer Relations Coordinator Meaghan Fosbury at 612-626-4482 or mfosbury@class.cla.umn.edu.