FEBRUARY
2009
- In This Issue -
A Message from
Debbie Day
Chapter Websites
Chapter Highlight:
Chattanooga Train Trip
Staff Highlight:
Josh Burnheimer
Hokie Nation Serves
Speakers for Spring Events
Reminder! Check Chapter Contacts
Hokie Day in Richmond Virginia
Don't Forget...
You are REQUIRED to have a Virginia Tech PID (vt.edu e-mail address) to access the Chapter Forms system. Visit the website and click on "chapter forms and log-in" for instructions and to access the system.
Upcoming
Dates more...
Chapter Teleconference: Community Service
TBA
Spring Game
April 25
Spring
Commencement
May 15
Chapter Officer’s Forum
September 18 & 19
Chapter Team...
Dear Chapter Volunteers,
January and February were busy months for the Alumni Association staff and our chapter volunteers as we returned to work from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and began making plans for an exciting new year.
Our Chapter President’s Training was held on Saturday, January 24th and we welcomed volunteers from as far away as central Florida to the Holtzman Alumni Center. Our meeting focused on finding ways to reach out to our different alumni populations, including our younger and multi-cultural alumni. We also shared and generated ideas on chapter programming and community service opportunities. Information from the meeting will be available on our website soon; be sure to contact your liaison if you have questions or concerns regarding your chapter.
Hokie Nation Serves will be our focus during the month of April. Alumni are encouraged to initiate and participate in community service events in their area. Find out what your fellow chapters are doing on our website at www.alumni.vt.edu/hokienationserves. Be sure to keep us informed of your own service events and we’ll post them here as well.
As you begin to plan your spring summer events, please be sure to include current and incoming students and parents, Alumni Association board members, and the families of the victims of April 16. Your staff liaison will work with you to schedule speakers and answer any questions you may have. We can also help generate ideas for new and different events, including community service projects.
As always thank you for your service to Virginia Tech and please let me or your liaison know how we can help you.
Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations
Chapter Websites
If your chapter has a website that is listed on the Alumni Association website, please be sure that the information and events listed are current. We have developed a schedule to regularly check-in and will be in touch if your chapter needs updates. Chapter websites may be hosted by us or the chapter; contact Vijay if you need any assistance.
Also, if your chapter is involved with any of the following social networking sites, please send Vijay the site address to be added to our chapter database (Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Plaxo, or Yahoo Groups).
Chapter Highlight
Chattanooga Train Trip
The Chattanooga Chapter Hokie Holiday Social took place on December 13 and is a trip on one of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s antique trains (They call it the Christmas Dinner Train). Chapter members boarded the train at Grand Junction Station in Chattanooga, TN and rode to Chickamauga, GA. A 4-course dinner was served in the dining car of the train. The menu was straight off of a typical dining car menu from the heyday of passenger trains. This was the second year the chapter has taken this trip and there were 17 people who attended. The cost was $80 per person. Train trips are truly a unique Chattanooga experience!
Staff Highlight: Josh Burnheimer
Josh recently graduated from Virginia Tech with a Degree in Financial Planning and joined the Alumni Association staff in January 2009. He advises and provides administrative support to all alumni chapters and clubs in Southwest Virginia, the
Western Mid-Atlantic States and lower Midwest States. He is also responsible for coordinating Alumni Association community service programs and individual chapter programs. Josh has a long history of volunteerism dating back to high school where he became a volunteer Firefighter/EMT at the age of 16. Throughout his collegiate career Josh held leadership positions with numerous clubs and organizations. He has a long history with the American Cancer Society Relay For Life and served as Director in 2008 when Virginia Tech was ranked second in the nation among colleges, raising over $294,000. Josh continues to advise Relay For Life committees at both Radford University and Virginia Tech and has presented at multiple national and regional American Cancer Society events. Josh enjoys the outdoors and living up to the Virginia Tech motto “Ut Prosim.”
As we near the month of April, we continue to encourage all chapters to focus on the Hokie Nation Serves program to help demonstrate to the world the power of Hokie pride, Hokie Spirit, and Hokie tradition. Numerous chapters are hosting various events such as VirginiaTechforlife blood drives, HokieBird Fights Hunger or Habitat for Humanity weekends. We would like to encourage each chapter to set some goals for themselves this April relating to community service. Such goals might include a total number of service hours for your chapter or a certain number of people attending each event. Please remember to relay these goals to your Alumni Association liaison. Regardless of the project or organization you serve, you will be honoring the Hokie Nation and portraying our motto of "Ut Prosim."
Josh Burnheimer is the community service liaison for all Alumni Chapters, and is more than willing to assist with ideas or help repeat successful past events. He can be reached at ffburnie@vt.edu.
Speakers for Spring Events
Now is the time to schedule speakers for your spring chapter events. We have several speakers available to attend chapter functions, including James I. Robertson Jr., David Lowe and Colonel Rock Roszak. Please contact your chapter liaison for more information or visit our speaker list on the web.
Reminder! Check Chapter Contacts
Please remember to check your chapter’s contact information on the Alumni Association's website regularly and make updates as needed. There are also links to submit reports for chapter events, for your convenience. more...
Hokie Day in Richmond, Virginia
On the morning of January 28th alumni, faculty/staff (54) and students (36) gathered on the 24th floor of the SunTrust building and were briefed by President Charles W. Steger about university initiatives. The group then walked over to the General Assembly building. Their mission was to discuss Virginia Tech’s future with the Virginia Delegates and Senators. The energy was high throughout the day as students were able to sit down in legislator’s offices and voice their concerns about issues important to them such as, tuition, funding and new initiatives. A few legislators even reserved conference rooms in order to speak directly to Virginia Tech students. A press conference was held where House Republicans promoted an economic stimulus package that would advance a number of mostly higher education capital projects including the Virginia Tech Signature Engineering Building. Their proposal includes funding for planning the building. When the session began at noon Senator John Watkins ’69 and Delegate James Shuler announced that it was “Hokie Day,” allowing the students and alumni in attendance to stand and be recognized by the Senators and Delegates. The day was capped off with a picture in front of the State Capitol with Governor Tim Kaine. It was safe to say Virginia Tech’s presence was felt on Hokie Day! Mission Accomplished!
The monthly newsletter is a communications tool between the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and its chapters. If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to your chapter liaison. If you have problems with viewing the newsletter, please contact Melissa Vidmar, Communications Director or view it online.
