As part of the University's weeklong orientation schedule on the St. Croix campus, students who attend Thursday's Alumni Give Back activity will find out that the best things in life really are free. IPods, calculators, t-shirts, water bottles and gift bags are among the prizes that will be raffled off at a mini club and organization fair featuring "insider" tips from some of UVI's best known alumni. UVI alumni presenters will include Col. Caroline Adams, calypsonian Campbell Barnes, Senate President Louis Patrick Hill, Attorney Lydia Logie Moolenaar, Gary Moore, Carmelo Rivera, Sen. Samuel Sanes, and Wendy Wheeler.
Beginning at 11:30 a.m. and continuing until 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, in the St. Croix campus Student Center and Cafetorium, the Office of Student Affairs' Orientation Planning Committee will sponsor activities geared toward uniting new students with their alumni counterparts.
This is the second year that Miriam Osborne Elliott, UVI's associate campus administrator for Student Affairs on the St. Croix campus, has coordinated the Alumni Give Back activity. "We did it to get students connected early so that they can see an expected end. By the time they're alumni they'll want to give back," she said.
Linda I. Smith, UVI's director of Annual Giving and Alumni Affairs, says connecting with alumni gives meaning to the student experience. "Our sole purpose is for incoming students to remain focused towards the pursuit of academic excellence," Smith said. "By our alumni sharing their experiences and their success stories, we are confident that this event will continue to positively impact students and UVI retention rates."
The University of the Virgin Islands believes that if you take new students and match them with successful alumni, you've got a winning combination. "I hope that it becomes a tradition of the institution, for all incoming students, so that every incoming class has the same experience," Osborne Elliott said.
For information about the Alumni Give Back activity, please contact Miriam Osborne Elliott in the Office of Student Affairs at 692-4188 or Linda I. Smith in the Office of Institutional Advancement at 692-4023.