Summers on campus seem quiet, but here in Development and Alumni Relations we’re not lazing around eating bonbons! Summer is when we review how the previous year went, then plan our goals and tactics for the upcoming year.
Before I go any further, please join me in a toast. Cheers to all of you who participated and applause for all the Lehigh faculty and staff who engaged with you and other alumni … A couple weeks ago we surpassed our GO Beyond goal for engagement! More than half of all Lehigh alumni have officially interacted with the university since Fall 2018! See the spread on pages 44-45 in this issue for more specific information. Clinks, and cheers!
Ah, but we’re Lehigh, right? We honor success by establishing even higher goals and then find joy in engineering even more effective, more efficient ways to reach them. That said, you won’t see drastic changes to our engagement programs this year, but behind the scenes we’ll be digging into our data to make sure we are serving our constituents and inspiring lifelong connections to Lehigh.
In April, we welcomed our new vice president of development and alumni relations, Carol Packard, who strongly supports this type of data-driven examination and rigor. She is inspiring us to raise our sights and is introducing some novel thinking about internal collaborations, which will surely have a positive impact on how Lehigh engages with alumni, parents and friends.
These are the areas we’re planning to focus on in fiscal year ’25:
Young Alumni are defined across the Alumni Relations field as graduates 10 years or less from their commencement, so people about 21 to 31 years old. Much has been written about this Millennial/ Gen Z group, so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice it to say we have some work to do in this area, and it’s constantly evolving.
This year we combined Giving Day + March Mania. It was everything we dreamed of and more. In 2025 we will be setting higher participation and dollar goals, highlighting the challenges from our generous donors and increasing our on-campus presence with an emphasis on teaching students about philanthropy’s effect on their dayto-day lives.
About 1,400 alumni volunteer their time and talent to Lehigh. We’re creating more synergies across the dozens of councils, boards and activities to ensure that we’re making the most of that time and talent.
Parents and Families are an important part of our Lehigh community. As I mentioned a few months ago, we’re working to stand up a more cohesive, collaborative approach to engaging with parents that will strengthen support for our students. As always, I welcome your feedback and hope to see you in real life soon!
Jennifer Cunningham ’28P
Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations
