You Spoke, We Listened

In our last issue, we asked you, our alumni readers, to share with us your thoughts on the Lehigh alumni Bulletin.

We did this because we understand on a very fundamental level that this magazine is your magazine, and if we are not serving up something that you actually want to read—something that you care about and enjoy reading—we simply aren’t doing our jobs. This reader survey, in other words, was something that we felt we had to do—and plan to do on a regular basis going forward.

That being said, we did have to wonder how much of a response we’d get; after all, these are challenging and interesting times for traditional media, and in an era that sees all of us consuming data via our phones more often than in print, we were left to ask ourselves: How many of our ultra-busy alums would actually spend 15 minutes to fill out this survey?

The answer?

A lot of them.

In all, we received more than 700 responses to our survey, and as the editor of this magazine, I can say that I was truly heartened by the responses you shared with us (well, most of them, at least). You told us that, yes, you still value the Bulletin—and that you also still make time to read it. The vast majority indicated that you considered our design, photography and writing to be either “very good” or “excellent.” The vast majority also said that you spend a good deal of time with each and every issue—and that you keep the issues around for a while, too.

Of course, you had your criticisms as well. We heard that the magazine leans too far to the left ... and that it leans too far to the right. We heard that while you do like reading about the amazing research happening here on South Mountain, you would prefer that we write about that work in a more approachable way. We heard that you’d like to read more about Lehigh’s past, more about this university’s incredible traditions, more about athletics, and more about the many exciting developments—from Path to Prominence to our newly launched campaign (See story, Pg. 6) that are collectively building the Lehigh of the future.

Some told us we focused too much on young alums; still others said the magazine seems targeted at older alums. Some wanted us to spend more time on serious subjects; others said they wanted more nostalgia pieces. And of course, some said that while the magazine is just fine, you really, really would appreciate it if the font was a bit easier to read.

Your comments, criticisms and observations truly run the gamut, and as a magazine staff, we are truly appreciative of the time that you spent to provide us with the information we need to make this magazine a publication that you can be proud of. In the months to come, we will be moving forward on a redesign of the Bulletin, and your feedback will be invaluable in helping us through that process.

We thank you once again for your input, and of course, we hope that you will enjoy this latest edition of your alumni magazine.

Sincerely,

Tim Hyland, Editor