Alumni Association Rant

From an alum and former teacher:

First of all, I want to congratulate you on the establishment of this site. I think it’s a great idea, and hopefully it’s an opportunity to bring about some change. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to forward a link to the blog to policy makers, politicians, media folks, parents (if possible), alumni (if you can find them – more on that in a moment), etc. Rarely do people outside of a school get the opportunity to read about what is REALLY going on inside the school – they get the PR, they get the test scores, but they don’t really know what’s going on in there.

Anyway, as a graduate and former teacher at City, here’s a funny story for you. I’m sorry that I don’t have any great stories to share about Mr. Dawson or the current state of the school, but I left the school (as a teacher) before he came on board as principal. My story relates to the Baltimore City College Alumni Association, or lack thereof. Oh, I’m sure there is one, but how effective is it in keeping track of the school’s many graduates, keeping those graduates connected with the school, organizing events for alums and inviting them to participate and soliciting support and assistance from them? Well, maybe this story will serve as an example of how ineffective this group currently is.

About two years ago I moved out of state, about 2400 miles to be exact. I came back to visit Baltimore in the fall 0f 2005, intentionally on the weekend of the City-Poly game. Much to my chagrin, at the game I found out from some fellow alums from my graduating class that I had missed my 15-year reunion by one weekend. I brushed it off, thinking it must have been too hard for fellow alumni, or the alumni association, to locate me since I was out of state and everything.

But Poly’s alumni association sure didn’t have any problem finding me. That’s right, our rival school, which I NEVER attended (although I was originally signed up to go there but got transferred over to City prior to my freshman year) and I certainly never graduated from sent me a postcard a few months back addressed to ME at my current address 2400 FREAKING MILES AWAY FROM BALTIMORE requesting some biographical information from me for the BALTIMORE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE’S alumni directory. There it was, my name, class of ’90, my address – I’m still trying to figure out how they found me way the hell out here in the Southwestern United States, especially with a name that is not especially unique – and a toll-free number to call so I could update my personal information in the BPI Alumni Directory. Well, guess what, boys and girls, I called them and gave them all the information that they asked for. I chose not to purchase a copy of the directory, but if you look me up in there you’ll find all the basic info on me, the proud Poly grad who cheered against Poly every Thanksgiving (or early November Saturday after we left the MSA and joined the MPSSA or whatever) for 18 straight years, from 1986 through 2003, when I moved away. And don’t forget 2005, the year I traveled 2400 miles to cheer City to victory on the gridiron, but missed my 15-year reunion because I didn’t know about it.

Hey, maybe I shouldn’t feel so bad. I missed my 10-year reunion as well, and I was even teaching at City at the time – you’d think somebody could’ve found me then to let me know. And to be fair, Poly has been sending me alumni information for years – somehow I ended up on their mailing list and I’ve been receiving mailings from them off and on ever since I graduated back in 1990. I even attended a BCC (NOT BPI) alumni association meeting back in 1999 to bring it to their attention that, while I had received many mailings from the BPI alumni association, I had never received a single mailing from the BCC alumni association, and have yet to this date. Baltimore, do we have a problem? Yes, we do.

And, since this is a forum, hey, maybe somebody can help me out, here. I found the BCC Alumni Association website at http://www.cityforevery.org, but there’s no place to join, there’s no link to any kind of directory, there’s no interactive aspect to the website at all – just a couple phone numbers (at least one is toll-free) to call and a P.O. Box to mail stuff to. And then Mr. Phillip Bass, the current president, has the nerve to say, " We look forward to seeing you at some alumni events soon and hope that you enjoy your trip through this web site. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can do to make the Association work for you." And the only event listed is the 2005 City-Poly game (I was there!) and there’s no really clear way to contact the Association to let them know how they can really work for us. (By the way, it looks like the Class of 1957, gearing up for their 50-year reunion next year, has a GREAT website – check it out at http://www.bcc57.org/index.htm)
And just for kicks, I tried to find the Poly Alumni Association website – no luck. But have no fear, fellow Engineers, you can just go to the school’s website at www.bpi.edu and you’ll feel more than welcome as an alum. There’s all kinds of news, reunion updates and links, a list of giving opportunities and even an online alumni directory. And guess what, boys and girls? Guess whose name is there for everyone to see? That’s right, and if my entry is approved, why don’t you head over to the site and check out the entry for Dr. Jason White, class of 1990?

Anyway, I’m all for being an active alum, at least as active as I can be from many miles away, but we need an organization that is set up to facilitate alumni participation. Right now, such an organization is just not in place. And maybe then, if the principal knew that the eyes of men and women of REAL power were on him, he’d be a little more careful in his words and actions. You know the Baltimore City Public School System isn’t going to provide the needed oversight – the folks at North Avenue can barely keep track of what’s going on at North Avenue. A real active alumni association could do a lot for the school. It might not solve all of the current problems, but at least it would be a start.

And I agree with Anon City Alum at anonalum.blogspot.com – we could at least start with a REAL website for the school. Come on, some alum out there has to have some website-designing experience – or at least know someone who has some. We’ve got to be able to do better than what we’ve got!

Well, that’s my two-cents worth. I was there when City hit the 150-year mark – hopefully it will make it to its Bicentennial. And I have no reason to remain anonymous. My name is (Dr.) Jason White, and feel free to email me at jwhitecityx@yahoo.com if you have any questions or concerns.