Students are always encouraged to “stay true” to their school with the help of the CMU Alumni Association.
Lisa Diaz, associate director of alumni relations for University Advancement, said that upon graduation, everyone is a member of the Alumni Association.
“It revolves around an outreach program to remain connected to the university,” she said. “We mainly focus on what it means to be a graduate of CMU.”
Diaz said the Alumni Association has chapters all over Michigan and the country. The state chapters help recruit students for job placement and internship work. The chapters also work with the College of Extended Learning program and are involved with hosting social functions and networking opportunities for recent graduates.
“There is just an enormous network of graduates who really want to help each other to find jobs and internships,” she said. “Many (chapters) host welcome receptions for the newest graduates.”
Director of Alumni Relations for University Advancement Tony Voisin said regional alumni chapters determine what direction the association takes.
“I think the Alumni Association has been active in the past but didn’t have a direction,” he said.
“We really want to come up with a master plan and narrow our focus down and concentrate on certain areas to keep alumni informed with university activities to connect or reconnect them with the university.”
Voisin said the Alumni Association has more than 140,000 people alumni.
“We do anything we can to keep them connected,” he said. “The majority of folks think they had a good experience here and we want to try to draw them together and the university cannot survive without them.”
He said the alumni are vital to CMU financially.
“We can’t count on just the money we get from the state, whether it’s a new building, program or internships. It’s vital to the university’s success,” he said.
However, the financial assets of alumni are not the only important factor to having a large alumni population.
“It’s not just the financial resources that are important to us, but their time and commitment as well,” he said.
Diaz said the Alumni Association focuses on many ongoing projects including Centraline magazine and, in recent years, every graduate receives a magazine twice a year to update them on university happenings and what their peers are doing.
Diaz said the Alumni Association also organizes the CMU Academic Homecoming where alumni meet with classes or one of the colleges on campus will put them in a seminar setting to share experiences with current students.
“We work to be a good (public relations) tool for the university. We help get the word out about Central and what Central is doing,” she said.
Diaz said the Maroon Coats Society, also operated by the Alumni Association, is “designed to begin at an early age, to help educate students on what Central is all about and why it is important to have a life-long link to the school you attend.”
Voisin said the Maroon Coats Society consists of undergraduate students who assist the Alumni Association Office in its mission in working with the alumni.
“They work with the senior send-off, which is one last social event prior to graduation at the end of each term before seniors go off into the real world.”
The Maroon Coats Society also aims to keep alumni connected by keeping up-to-date information on the mailing addresses of graduates.
Diaz said future projects of the Alumni Association include an additional membership program called the gold club, which begins in January, where every year all graduates will be able to have many benefits, including discounts on car rentals and hotels, and special invitations to events.
Voisin said working with on-campus organizations is also a future goal for the association.
“We need to do more. We need to reach out and work with fraternities and sororities and the Student Government Association and also try to collect correct names of alumni,” he said.
“Working closely with those groups is our focus at this point. Whatever we can do to expose students to our office prior to graduation is our primary goal.”
For more information about the Alumni Association, call 774-3312.

E-mail the author: Sarah LeachLIFE News Editor