This week's Alumni Center Groundbreaking turned out to be truly one of the most enjoyable events probably ever hosted on this campus. The mood was like that of a gathering of longtime friends.
For some reason I had been obsessing over this event for months but the past 2 weeks had been somewhat over the top. I found myself fiddling with the script and making lists on little pieces of scratch paper on planes, in my car, during meetings about other stuff; pretty much constantly.
I guess that is because I had been chipping away at this project for as long as I had been an alumni director which is going on 9 years.
Some years I thought I was the problem, sometimes the school, sometimes the prospects. Usually I just felt like it was a difficult and complicated assignment which we would eventually conquer if enough people kept trying. And eventually enough people did.
So the events leading up to the groundbreaking provided some nice opportunities for historical reflection, some nostalgia for the old building, and some real sense of gratitude for the individuals who stepped up.
What I was left with as the confetti faded away but not before providing us with timeless photos of the historical moment was simply this: Our Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center will exist because the University and the Alumni Community collectively willed it to happen. And soon we will have a building whose primary output will be the harvesting of good ideas and deeds that come from bringing the alumni community and the University together.
For some reason I had been obsessing over this event for months but the past 2 weeks had been somewhat over the top. I found myself fiddling with the script and making lists on little pieces of scratch paper on planes, in my car, during meetings about other stuff; pretty much constantly.
I guess that is because I had been chipping away at this project for as long as I had been an alumni director which is going on 9 years.
Some years I thought I was the problem, sometimes the school, sometimes the prospects. Usually I just felt like it was a difficult and complicated assignment which we would eventually conquer if enough people kept trying. And eventually enough people did.
So the events leading up to the groundbreaking provided some nice opportunities for historical reflection, some nostalgia for the old building, and some real sense of gratitude for the individuals who stepped up.
What I was left with as the confetti faded away but not before providing us with timeless photos of the historical moment was simply this: Our Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center will exist because the University and the Alumni Community collectively willed it to happen. And soon we will have a building whose primary output will be the harvesting of good ideas and deeds that come from bringing the alumni community and the University together.
