Alumni Association News

The strength of a university can be measured by its alumni. UMD President Darryll J. Pines often shares this sentiment, one I heartily agree with. Using this measurement, the university is indeed a powerhouse!

Alumni are the only permanent stakeholders of a university. Students, faculty and staff can change over the years, but alumni will always be a constant thread in the fabric of the university. During my nine years as executive director of the alumni association, our enduring goal has been to elevate the university and its now 414,000 alumni.

In the past six years, alumni engagement grew by more than 300%. We launched a robust mentoring community of more than 17,000. We created strong identity-based networks and led the university’s first Black alumni weekend. We’ve more than doubled the number of regional networks, bringing in 400 volunteer leaders, and we are governed by a strong national alumni board. We grew membership by 29%, and engraved nearly 3,000 new names onto the Frann G. and Eric S. Francis Lifetime Member Wall. We have connected alumni with hundreds of pro- spective and admitted students, working to increase Maryland’s yield.

The Alumni Association’s new strategic plan will ensure that more alumni stay “Forever Fearless” through coming initiatives that will:

• Create more opportunities for admitted students to interact with alumni
• Increase lifelong learning opportunities for alumni
• Engage alumni through their company or organization and industry networking
• Prepare students for life after college and to be engaged alumni
• Encourage alumni around the world to join in a global day of service

We are thankful to tens of thousands of alumni who join, volunteer, advocate and give to the university every year!

Go Terps!

Amy Eichhorst
Executive Director, University of Maryland Alumni Association
Associate Vice President, Alumni and Donor Relations

“Those were really some of the best memories,” says De Armond ’94, the new president of the University of Maryland Alumni Association Board of Governors, who will serve a two-year term. A loyal Terp, she’s long recruited and spoken to classes at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, where she earned her accounting degree; cheered on the football and basketball teams; and celebrated the holidays at the Alumni Association’s annual party.

She hopes to create new memories during UMD Homecoming’s 100th anniversary, and invites all Terps to do the same at the Alumni Association’s three events:

ALUMNI TAILGATE AT MOXLEY GARDENS
“There’s no replacement for being in person, feeling that energy and seeing that Terp pride in person, especially during Homecoming,” De Armond says. Featuring Terp-owned breweries, food, music and games—and kids’ activities for the littlest Terps—the tailgate is a place to reconnect and revel before the big game.

GOLDEN TERPS BRUNCH
The classes of ’71, ’72 and ’73 will celebrate their 50th reunions this year. “It’s never too late to come back and re-energize your Terp pride!” Reunion attendees will receive a medallion during brunch at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.

LIFETIME MEMBER WALL UNVEILING
De Armond still has the photo of herself in the classic pose of pointing at her name on the Frann G. & Eric S. Francis Lifetime Member Wall, and she’s excited for the nearly 1,200 alums who will soon get the same opportunity. “Seeing your name there just reminds you of all the Terps through the generations that are connected by a lot of the traditions that we share with one another,” she says.

For more information on these events, visit alumni.umd.edu/homecoming.