Steward Insights: The Importance of Alumni in a Healthy School Community

Think back to your most significant memories from high school: the special teacher who gave you advice you’ve never forgotten; the game your team won in overtime — or lost in a heartbreaker; your dreamy (or nightmare) prom date; the friendships (temporary or lifelong) that inspired your adventures. While they may bring up mixed emotions now, these events likely left lasting impressions on you and your personality. 

In an ideal world, once a senior graduates from high school and becomes an alum, they will show interest in what’s going on at their alma mater, returning to campus occasionally and keeping in touch with special friends and faculty. They move on to their next phases of life and leave high school in the rearview mirror; hopefully, hearing their former school’s name brings forth warm feelings about the place they called home once upon a time. 

Being an alumnus or alumna of a school means the organization left a stamp on your heart, and the reverse is also true. Any institution is healthier with input from those who have a vested interest in its success … after all, the better a school is perceived, the more impressive a diploma becomes. After graduation, alumni — who are connected with the current students, even if they don’t know each other — are valuable resources when it comes to career connections, giving, and the vibrancy of student life. 

As one dean at the University of St. Gallen’s alumni relations conference put it in 2024, “Alumni are the only stakeholders you cannot exchange. You might lose students, even dismiss faculty, and ownership might change, but alumni are there for a lifetime.” 

Stories about alumni donors at institutions become legendary. Richmonders, can you imagine the University of Richmond without the Robins Center, or Virginia Commonwealth University without the Siegel Center? Mr. Robins and Mr. Siegel obviously believed that their dollars would make a difference at their respective alma maters, and the same is true for a plethora of colleges and universities across the country. Forward-thinking alumni who make visible contributions to their schools deserve credit for prioritizing the places that helped them become who they are. 

Career connections are more valuable than ever, and perhaps the most tangible effect an alum can have at an institution is the willingness to be a connector. Social media makes establishing those connections a bit easier, but nothing replaces face-to-face contact. In a world where the impact of artificial intelligence increases by the day, thus depersonalizing our communications, it’s vital that alumni maintain personal connections with their schools, serving as speakers, mentors, board members, and even just campus visitors. In all communities, but especially at a school, nothing will replace personal connection, and alumni are the chief ambassadors. 

The ultimate vote of confidence in an alma mater is choosing to send your children to your school, thus turning a place from your personal history into a setting that holds major importance for your family — a lifetime lifestyle, so to speak. A child’s school years are an investment of time and energy for the whole family no matter where they attend school, so it’s a magical feeling when the community where you channel those efforts feels like home.

So, before you toss those old yearbooks in the attic (or, heaven forbid, in the trash), thinking that was part of your old life, take another look. Remember that those years were part of what makes you you. How might you be able to reconnect with the place that provided a home-away-from-home during your teenage years? You may be surprised —not only by how much your school will appreciate your involvement, but also by the warm fuzzies you’ll feel when you walk in the door. 

Sydney Smith is the special projects coordinator for the Development Office at The Steward School. She holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Richmond. Having worked at Steward for 19 years and as the mother of two alums, she feels very attached to alumni success.