What do alumni dues pay for?

Good Morning brothers. Cale Johnson posted this to the alumni facebook page a couple of days ago. I thought I would post it here for those who don’t do facebook.

WHAT DO ALUMNI DUES PAY FOR?​​

We got a really good question from an alumni brother a couple of weeks ago. It was such a good question that we thought it was worth sharing.

The question was “Since we’re taking in so much more in alumni dues than we used to, what are they being used for?”

The short answer is that we have short term “annual” expenses and long-term goals.

The annual expenses are things like

• Homecoming (food, soft drinks, ice, paper products, golf reception)

• Alumni Awards (annual scholarship, workhorse award)

• Chapter support

-Chapter support was $4000 in 2023 (improved rush events, new tailgating tent). It will be about the same in 2024 although this year we helped them with General Assembly costs.

-The chapter gets no money from the alumni for social events or things like that.

The long term “vision” we have is for the alumni to buy a piece of property near school where we will eventually build a building that can be used as an “event space”. This could begin as simply as a “shelter” with a fireplace and picnic tables. Eventually, we see it as a single family “home” possibly with a large enclosed space underneath it. The home would be rented as an Airbnb during most of the year (ideally, it would generate enough revenue this way to make it self-supporting). Individual alumni could use it as a place to stay when they visit the area. We would plan to reserve it for the alumni group during events like homecoming. The enclosed space under the home would only be used during these times. The idea is to have a “place of our own” while avoiding the headaches & liabilities many of us remember from the past. As stated, this is a long-term goal and subject to change.

If you have thoughts or ideas relative to any of this, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

The alumni board always welcomes input. We encourage all alumni to get involved in whatever way works best for them.

Also, if you haven’t, please pay your alumni dues. We are getting close to homecoming where we will spend the largest majority of our annual expenses and want to make sure we are in a good position.