Alumni Now

A Message From The Alumni Board Chair

Mike Velin '06
Alumni Association Board Chair

MPA was, and still is, our community. But MPA isn't a place, it's a people. A group of people both on and off campus that because of our shared experiences together believe we can influence our environment around us.

Two of our community's values are mutual respect and meaningful service. MPA's graduation service requirement lays the groundwork for us to foster a culture of giving back within our community while having a positive impact on the environment around us.

However, that responsibility of giving back doesn't end once we graduate. Our community is everywhere we go. MPA has defined us, taught us, and shaped us—not just for the first 18 years of our lives, but for the next 70. We must fight the urge to solely interact online and begin to engage together in person!

The MPA Alumni Association is trying to bridge the gap between the community members on campus and those off campus by creating opportunities for people to get back in touch. This fall, we are starting a mentoring program where each senior student will be paired up with an alum to virtually communicate on preselected topics and then engage together with an in-person networking session.

I challenge you to reassess your community involvement and to never forget about our community roots of giving back. Come back to campus, help us with our events, and engage with us in person! It takes a village to raise a child and without all of the support from this village, where would you be? Together, if we dream big, and do right, we might just be able to shake the world.