High Point University

Student Alumni Council plays integral role in Alumni Weekend

Members of Student Alumni Council volunteered their time over alumni weekend to ensure that everything ran smoothly. From the left: Molly Phalen, Erica Wuorio, Shane Blackwell, Jessica Brighton, and Alex Nelson. Photo by: highpoint.edu

By Whitney Yount, Organizations Editor //

On Oct. 10-12, High Point University welcomed back hundreds of former HPU students for its annual Alumni Weekend. Each year, the weekend is packed with reunions, events, and fun activities for alumni and their families.

This year was no different, and the alumni relations staff worked around the clock to make sure that every event was successful and enjoyable for all of the attendees.

While most people know about all of the hard work that the staff members put into alumni weekend, not everybody realizes that many students have a large role as well, as part of the Student Alumni Council.

Led by alumni relations staff members Erica Wuorio and Emily Saunders (’14), Student Alumni Council is a program run through the Office of Alumni Relations to involve current students with graduates of HPU.

According to the university website, the primary goal of SAC is “to stimulate student involvement with our university and its alumni and encourage students to be actively involved with HPU after graduation.”

“One of SAC’s biggest initiatives is participating in Alumni Weekend,” Saunders said. “Specifically, our Alumni Connections committee, headed up by Vince Perez (’16), our VP of Alumni Connections, organizes how each member of SAC will participate in the weekend.”

As the alumni relations staff finalizes the schedule for the weekend, Mindy Mahrer, the Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, decides how many SAC members are necessary for the execution of each event.

Most events require between two and eight volunteers, so SAC members have a busy weekend keeping up with everything that’s going on around campus. This year, the Alumni Connections committee created a sign-up sheet so that the students could sign up for the events that interested them – events that included the Steel Magnolias Breakfast, reunion dinners, an alumni awards reception, and the alumni picnic on the promenade, among other things.

SAC members also volunteer to help with the alumni registration process that allows the alumni to purchase tickets to the events. Throughout the weekend, all Student Alumni Council members wear gray SAC polos and name tags so that they are easily recognizable to the former students. “Alumni love seeing them around!” Saunders said.

This year’s alumni weekend also served as the start of the Student Alumni Council-Young Alumni Council mentor program, where recent graduates are encouraged to guide current students.

“Each SAC member is paired with a YAC mentor, and they were given the opportunity to meet in person for a breakfast kick-off during the weekend,” said Saunders. “So far we’ve had a really great response from both our mentors and mentees! We’re looking forward to growing the program in the coming years.”