Alumni Engagement in the New World
Things have changed. The one phrase I’m sure we are all tired of hearing is: these are unprecedented times. And they are, but we are tired of them being unprecedented and we desperately want to go back to the way things were before the pandemic.
Sadly, that isn’t possible, at least not yet. Covid-19 has changed the way the world operates and the way we engage with one another. Instead of in-person meetings, we meet by Zoom or some other platform.
Our lives have changed, and some of those ways have actually been for the better. Now, instead of only having 30 alumni at a CLE event, and then only those in Salt Lake, we are able to reach hundreds of alumni for our webinars as well as reaching our alumni all over the country/world. It’s been amazing to extend our outreach in this way and I hope many of you are taking advantage of these opportunities.
One of the ways that we have been able to engage alumni is through the Dean’s Book Review and other webinars focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. As discussed elsewhere in this edition, our Dean’s Book Review has focused on a different book every month related to whatever is being “celebrated” that month. For example, in September, we celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month by reading Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism. This has been a wonderful way to engage all members of our community in our anti-racist work, which is highlighted in this Res Gestae.
For webinars generally, I’d love to hear from you on the subjects you’d like to hear about in the webinars. Not only do I want your ideas, I’d also love to have you participate on any panel. What is the practice like in your area and how has that changed? What are you doing not that is different and how will that last beyond the pandemic? I think these types of presentations can help us all adapt and adjust.
I’m also looking for volunteers for another program I’d like to begin for our social media channels. I’d love an alum to give a monthly practice tip. I think this can be a hugely beneficial piece to include in our social media as we are all dealing with new ways to practice, some of which will remain with us for the rest of our practice lives. I’d love to hear about how you handle virtual depositions, virtual hearings with family in the next (or same) room, etc.
Please contact me at lori.nelson@law.utah.edu with your practice tip..
One last way we’d like to keep you involved is to conduct quarterly, virtual, class cocktail/mocktail parties. We can do virtual movie nights, dinners — the opportunities are endless and can be so much fun. Please let me know if you want to set up one of these virtual parties and we can make it happy.
We are so grateful for all you do for the College of Law. We are supported by our alumni and our students are supported by our alumni. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Lori