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Northwest Missouri State University

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President's Message

Friend raising is Alumni Association's top priority

Tim SullivanNorthwest has alumni and friends literally around the world. It is the mission of the Northwest Alumni Association is to establish and maintain connections with the Bearcat family everywhere, and for that purpose 15 chapters have been established in locations from Des Moines to Dallas and Chicago to Tokyo. If you don’t know if there is a chapter where you live, get the full listing of locations and officers by clicking here.

We affectionately refer to the purpose of the Northwest Alumni Association as “friend raising,” and we take our job seriously. In 2007-2008 the Northwest Alumni Association sponsored more than 160 events with thousands of Bearcats and friends in attendance.

I would like to talk briefly about membership in the Northwest Alumni Association. Some might think it is necessary to be a member to attend alumni association sponsored events. Not so! All Northwest alumni and friends are welcome at any alumni association sponsored event anywhere, anytime. Please come and enjoy the company of others who are also proud of their association with one of the finest educational institutions anywhere.

Why, then, even have members? The answer is pride! At Northwest, there is only one way to become a member of the Northwest Alumni Association: Invest in Northwest.

Any gift of $50 or more to one of the many worthy causes that the University and the Northwest Foundation put before alumni and friends makes the donor a member of the Northwest Alumni Association. If a couple invests $85 or more they both become members.

For example, if you give $50 or more to the Adopt-A-Bearcat program, or the Horace Mann/Early Childhood building project, or the Center for Agricultural Computing Technologies, or the Women’s basketball/volleyball locker room renovation, or to the Department of Music’s Performing Arts Series, or to the general fund, or any of the many other worthy causes, you receive membership in the Northwest Alumni Association.

Members, then, are that proud group of alumni and friends who say, “I invest in Northwest!” And many say it year after year. The students and faculty at Northwest thank you for investing in them.

My closing thought is inspired by an acceptance speech at the Northwest Alumni Awards Banquet last September by Dr. Terry Robertson, winner of the Distinguished Faculty Award. He does not hold a degree from Northwest, but in his speech he referred to this institution as his alma mater. I am embarrassed to admit I did not know the translation of those Latin words. Dr. Robertson taught me that evening: loving mother. What a compelling – and accurate for me – picture of Northwest. I have found that the pride I felt when I graduated from Northwest in 1975 continues to grow through my continued connection with my alma mater.

Please come back to campus and attend an event. Look for Northwest Alumni Association events near you. (If you would like to be added to an email list that will send you updates on upcoming events contact Brenda Untiedt at alumni@nwmissouri.edu.) Come. Participate in the friend raising. Share old memories and make new ones.

Bearcat best!

Tim "Sully" Sullivan '75
President, Northwest Alumni Association