A new home for Alumni Relations staff
The Office of Alumni Relations has moved from Alumni Hall into new quarters in the George Evans House, located at 5 West Main Street in Newark.
Visitors to the office can use the side entrance, which is next to the Trabant University Center. The staff members who moved include those responsible for managing class reunions, regional alumni clubs and the UD Alumni Association and their support staffs.
Anyone with questions can continue to contact the office at (302) 831-2341.
Friendships run deep at annual reunion
For the past five years, several friends from the Class of 1992 have come together for an informal reunion by participating in the Dewey Beach 5K run for charity. And for the last two years, race day has fallen on the same day as the Dewey UD Alumni event, allowing for an even greater connection point, the classmates say.
The idea began back in 2001 when Larry Dignan, Dave Kegel, Andrew Langberg, Larry Gittelman, Jon Huddle and Andrew Schick, all from ’92, and Shane Breakie, Class of ’93, met up in Newark, Del. They had come from five states, from California to New Jersey, and enjoyed reminiscing together so much that they decided to try it again the following year.
For the next five years, the meeting location varied from Delaware to New York City to Atlantic City, in search of the best place to settle and build an annual tradition. By 2007, the friends were ready to give Dewey Beach, Del., a try. But by this time, they decided to commit to a healthy competition—running a 5K. They updated one another on their training progress and came up with a trophy that is engraved with the winner’s name each year and then held by that winner until the next race.
In the 2011 event on July 17, the seven alumni were part of a field of 422 runners who ran the race for Seven Sisters-Dewey Beach Liquors at the Cork, with proceeds benefiting nearby Beebe Medical Center. The race director, Wayne Kursh, describes the event as “a melting pot of runners and walkers from all over the U.S., Canada and some [other] countries. … All seem to have been to Dewey Beach as kids with their parents and seem to want to continue with the same family tradition.” For the UD alumni, it’s become a Blue Hen tradition as well.
Join faculty, friends on special tour of China
The Alumni Relations Office has announced the sixth annual trip for alumni, faculty, staff and friends of UD to China in June 2012.
The tour will be led by volunteer directors Xiang Gao, professor of music, and his wife, Renee Dong, instructor in Chinese. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15; visit www.UDconnection.com, and click on “Get involved.”
The trip will include visits to Beijing, where the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the spectacular 2008 Olympic Park are located; Xi’an, site of the 2,000-year-old terracotta warriors; Shanghai, the largest port in the world, known as the “Pearl of the East”; and Suzhou, the city of traditional Chinese gardens and silk.
“As an artist from China who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, I consider China and the United States as my mother and father countries,” Gao says. “As a cultural ambassador, I have been passionately promoting cultural exchange and understanding between the people of the two great nations.
“Friends of our University who traveled to China with us unanimously agreed that they were able to gain so much more with our specially designed itinerary than regular tourists in China, and it was the best way to visit a country like China.”
Gao and Dong, who both are bilingual and bicultural natives of China, provide special insights to the tour group as participants learn about the Chinese people—their lives, history, philosophy, religion and society. The couple also has served as faculty directors of seven UD study abroad programs to China.
Graduates now stay involved with Greek life
In 2008, Dave Tully, AS08, and Mike Russo, AS07, realized that many schools had alumni associations for Greeks—but UD was not one of them. With nearly 20 percent of UD alumni, or roughly 30,000, involved in Greek life while they attended the University, it made sense to Tully and Russo to find a way to bring these members together post-graduation.
They began the process of forming the University of Delaware Greek Alumni Association (GAA) and launched the organization at the 2008 Alumni Weekend. This began a new era of Greek alumni engagement on campus.
Tully, now president of the GAA, says the organization has a dual mission. First, it allows alumni from all UD Greek chapters to network and build new relationships.
“Our second mission is to support the endeavors of the undergraduates,” Tully says. “Every year, more is being asked of the undergraduates, from financial obligations through their national offices to accelerated academic requirements.” Tully explains that the GAA hopes to provide financial support for Greek organizations to travel to conferences and offer scholarships for academic success.
In just three years, membership in the GAA has grown to more than 200, and the association’s leaders hope to keep expanding and encouraging alumni engagement.
For information about coming events or to join, visit the UD GAA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/udgaa.
Regional clubs host variety of activities
Regional alumni clubs around the country sponsor numerous events, many supported by the UD Alumni Association. For more details and to register to join fellow Blue Hens, visit www.UDconnection.com/events. Here is just a sampling of a few upcoming activities:
Jan. 19—New Castle County Alumni Club, open meeting and happy hour, Kate’s in Newark
Jan. 19—Philadelphia Alumni Club, beer tasting, Yards Brewery
Jan. 21—Baltimore Alumni Club, beer tasting and tour, Brewer’s Art
Jan. 25—Reading (Pa.) Alumni Club, Reading Royals vs. Wheeling Nailers hockey
Jan. 25—Boston Alumni Club, UD men’s basketball at Northeastern
February—Boston Alumni Club, “Winter Warmer” happy hour
Feb. 9—Baltimore Alumni Club, happy hour
March 8—Reading Alumni Club, happy hour, Railroad House Restaurant
March 12—New Castle County Alumni Club, themed cooking class, UD’s Vita Nova
March 16—Lancaster Alumni Club, Sunset Boulevard, Fulton Theatre
