Welcome to the Cornell Alumni Association (again)
Welcome to the Cornell Alumni Association (again)
Do you know that as soon as you register for your first class at Cornell, you become a member of the Cornell Alumni Association (CAA)? During the years you spend on campus, you are an alumna- or alumnus-in-training, and once you complete your studies on the Hill, at Weill Cornell Medical College, or at WCMC-Qatar—whether or not you receive a diploma—you are a full member.
As members, all of us benefit from the multitude of ways to remain connected to Cornell. Many become affiliated with our local Cornell Club, enabling us to make new friends in new places. Local clubs sponsor social and business networking events, lectures by alumni and faculty, welcoming activities for newly accepted students, and many other programs and activities.
'All of us benefit from the multitude of ways to remain connected to Cornell. Many become affiliated with our local Cornell Club, enabling us to make new friends in new places.'More than 7,500 people belong to the Cornell Alumni Ambassador Admissions Network (CAAAN), which helps high school students learn more about Cornell through oneon-one and small-group meetings. These meetings often inspire applicants to choose Cornell. The Cornell Association of Class Officers (CACO) has more than 1,600 volunteers coordinating class events and reunion activities, while each college has its own active association. And affinity groups such as the Big Red Band Alumni Association, fraternity and sorority alumni associations, and minority group associations including the Cornell Black Alumni Association, the Cornell Asian Alumni Association, and the Cornell University Gay and Lesbian Alumni provide more ways for alumni to remain connected to Cornell.
All of these groups fall under the umbrella of the Cornell Alumni Association, and all are represented on the CAA's Board of Directors. Cornell doesn't do anything in a small way—this board, which meets three times a year, comprises sixty-three directors.
Originally incorporated as the Cornell Alumni Association in 1907, the organization's name was changed to the Cornell Alumni Federation in 1970, when the Alumni Association merged with the Federation of Cornell Clubs. Did you know that? Perhaps not. That's why, in September 2009, the Board of Directors voted to return to using the Cornell Alumni Association name.
The CAA provides grants to constituent organizations in support of new initiatives, sponsors the Cornell on the Road faculty speaker program, and—most notably—owns and publishes the award-winning Cornell Alumni Magazine.
The Office of Alumni Affairs has a strategic plan to encourage participation in Cornell's many alumni organizations. Many are dues-free, and many more are moving in that direction. President Skorton has invited all of us to participate in his call to re-engage with Cornell. I hope that as you do, you will reimagine how you can get involved with the Cornell Alumni Association. We are more than 215,000 in number. Let us engage and be more than 215,000 strong!
— Nancy Abrams Dreier '86
President, Cornell Alumni Association
Meet Some of your Cornell Alumni Association Board
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
