Many of you are aware that the Stanford Board of Trustees
this spring ratified a proposal to merge the Stanford Alumni
Association (SAA) into Stanford University. Under the plan, SAA would
become an operating division of the University. The SAA Board
unanimously approved the move in May and recommended its adoption by
our 72,000 members. A ballot is now in the hands of these members, and
to those of you who are our stakeholders, I heartily invite your
endorsement of the proposed arrangement.
Believe me, this is no small suggestion. The Alumni Association was founded in 1892 by Stanford’s first graduates, who wanted to show support for a University that, after all, had just given them a tuition-free education. Legally independent of the University, SAA has always worked together with campus administrators for the common good of Stanford and its alumni. Over the last 106 years, SAA emerged as one of the great success stories among peer alumni organizations. We have the most comprehensive set of programs, a preeminent reputation for innovation and quality, and an extraordinary corps of volunteers and staff. We’ve been atop the heap in terms of member participation (trailing, curiously, only the Naval Academy and the Citadel in one recent survey!). Alumni have enjoyed a wide degree of latitude in operating our organization. And, importantly to me, we have been a joyful, vigorous and value-added part of the campus and the broader Stanford family.
No wonder several of my counterparts in the alumni relations business think this proposal is utter lunacy. If it ain’t broke. . . . The truth, however, is that being independent also has limitations.
Recent surveys show that we are underserving some categories of alumni, largely because the Association has neither the resources nor the authority to commit Stanford to reaching and engaging all its graduates. Recognizing this reality, we have in the last decade engaged in some joint ventures with the University -- the Centennial celebration, expanded reunions, alumni trustee selection, even this magazine. The results demonstrate the value of closer ties.
If we opt not to build aggressively on our successes, we may well be guilty of what Keith Lumsden, my professor from Scotland in sophomore macroeconomics, called satisficing -- doing good, doing well, meeting requirements, declaring victory and, in effect, shortchanging both Stanford and its alumni by not asking both to stretch a bit more. If, on the other hand, we form this partnership, the University would become an activist agency in alumni relations and the graduates would see better utilization of their volunteer talents. Above all, this merger would expand resources on which we can call and bring an exciting combination of talent and energy to this reciprocal endeavor called Stanford.
Among the initiatives we look forward to:
- An ambitious new alumni center, which will be home base for visiting Stanford graduates and provide a much expanded “mission control” for SAA and its volunteers. It will offer meeting space, a magnificent assembly area and outdoor gathering places, a library and business center, a coffee house and pub, a small gym with lockers, and lots of “welcome home” amenities as your headquarters facility.
- A formal volunteer clearinghouse. The goal is to upgrade opportunities for alumni to demonstrate their Stanford citizenship -- whether encouraging the best high school kids to apply to Stanford or offering advice about particular issues on the University’s agenda or serving on campus committees. We want to match real skill with real needs.
- New forms of alumni communications, including a pilot program of class newsletters and an expanded presence on the web. We’ll also be refining Stanford magazine to integrate coverage of campus affairs with broader news of interest to graduates.
- Projects to foster class identity and enhance alumni-student mentoring. Students are alumni at a different phase of their lifetime relationship with the University. We want to make sure that future students and recent graduates heading off to new challenges benefit from the counsel of those who have already logged time on the Farm and beyond.
All of this is meant as a new declaration of interdependence -- where the graduates and our University join ranks to build on the uncanny instincts of the founders and the kaleidoscopic contributions of many generations of Stanford stalwarts. The goal is simple: to leverage the remarkable energies and skills of our alumni and to maximize what the institution can offer its permanent shareholders in return. I welcome a vote of confidence from SAA members as we map ambitious plans for the next Stanford century.