A Sense of Continuity

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

As I jogged around campus today, leaves swirling at my feet, I watched students skateboard, scooter, walk and run to class and marveled again at what a beautiful place UNH is. I’ve had the good fortune to work here since 1998. My early career as a development officer put me in regular contact with many of the university’s alumni and friends, and the pride, poise and passion I encountered among this special group inspired my matriculation into the UNH MBA program at age 40. Completing that program, and becoming an alumna of UNH, was one of the most rewarding decisions of my life. I feel an incredible sense of pride working with our students and faculty, my colleagues and our entire extended UNH family. The desire to see this university excel taps into the instinct to nurture something that grows and evolves into a stronger, more sophisticated version of itself.

As the new associate vice president for alumni relations, I think about alumni relations as a mutually beneficial lifelong contract between the university and its constituents that begins the day a new student signs up for his or her first class. These benefits include membership in a strong and broad alumni network that offers career opportunities and rewarding social interactions long after you graduate. As alumni help the University of New Hampshire grow and become more successful, they in turn are enhancing the value of their own UNH degree.

Alumna Patricia Gibson Baker ’43 is one of many alums who exemplify the power of that symbiotic UNH/alumni relationship. As a freshman, Pat worked for beloved university registrar Oren “Dad” Henderson, who was in his last year before retirement. Pat graduated with a degree in English and raised her family in Carmichael, California, where she served as the co-agent for her class and participated in Northern California alumni gatherings. She served on her 40th and 50th class reunion committees, was one of the original incorporators of the University of New Hampshire Foundation, Inc., participated as an area captain for the Next Horizon campaign, and received numerous awards for her service. The university has been the recipient of Pat’s time and devotion for most of her lifetime, and when I asked her what she has received in return from her alma mater, she told me that UNH was the best thing that ever happened to her. Pat's UNH connections broadened and enhanced her world, especially when she developed close relationships with other alumni from Northern California, with whom she could share that UNH sense of place.

When she was considering a position on the Alumni Association Board of Directors in 1978, Pat said, “It is only if we all share in the support of our university that we can truly provide a sense of continuity between the past, the present and the future.” Whether you are an alumnus/alumna or friend of the University of New Hampshire, I encourage you to likewise get involved. Join me in supporting this special place and the wonderful history it represents, the world renowned-research and teaching it offers today, and extraordinary future it promises to all of us.

Sincerely,