The UT National Alumni Association gets alumni together for Homecoming, pep rallies, and chapter meetings—you knew that, right? Do you know what else we do? We do some pretty neat stuff, and we’re adding new services all the time.
I want to ask you to volunteer to work with our youth. As college graduates, we are the minority in our state. Many of today’s children are growing up without positive role models. We can make a difference in their lives.
Education changes lives. For Debbie Ingram, that’s not just a catchy slogan but a personal cause. With three degrees—two of them from UT—she believes it’s the responsibility of the educated to encourage, to mentor, to tutor, to do whatever it takes to help others discover the transformational experience that is education.
Investing your money can be about as serious as a heart attack. Unfortunately, not every investment is a wise one. Think of the impulsive trader who buys on the basis of a hot tip, regardless of whether the bulls are raging or the bears are hunkered down.
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective—for instance, praising outstanding high-school juniors for their academic achievements and urging them to go to college in Tennessee. And subtly suggesting they might take a look at UT.
The time is right to talk about the last, and often the best, of our alumni 3 R’s: Recruiting, Reinvesting, and—RECONNECTING! Or you could call it reuniting, revisiting, remembering, reliving, or rekindling. There are so many possibilities—but no regrets in choosing any of them.
Online news, a $50 million gift, and the Kosten Endowment
A life can turn on one good deed, and Eddie Rowe believes he’s living proof. Rowe (Health Science Center ’69), a pharmacist in Kingsport, says he’d be “digging ditches today” if it weren’t for the kindness of former UT pharmacy dean Seldom Feurt. In gratitude for that kindness he speaks of, Rowe has put his money where his mouth is to endow a scholarship fund for pharmacy students.
Humble beginnings can often inspire -remarkable accomplishments. A fire in the belly, the thrill of competition, and even enjoying the role of underdog can help level the playing field for all who play the game of life. Larry Pratt can relate.
Time for me to focus on another of the “Alumni Three Rs” (remember “Reconnect, Reinvest, and Recruit”)? This issue I want to highlight recruiting, not for any athletic team, but for our academic teams at each campus.
In the last issue, I stressed my hope that UT alumni would “Recruit, Reconnect, and Reinvest” with and for our alma mater. At this time of year, it seems appropriate to underscore the advantages of reinvesting.
