On the pod this week, Erin Essak Kopp shares that she realized she’d been blaming alumni for not showing up. But over the years, she realized that they paid for the degree, and everything after commencement is ours to earn. That’s not deflating, it’s freeing, because it puts the work back where we can act on it. What we owe them, she says, is to know who they are now and not who they were at 22, and to show up in the moments that matter.
Watch the full-length version on YouTube - 54 minutes
It runs straight into how we measure. The four modes count what alumni do for us, not how known they feel by us, so Erin built a net known score: on a scale of zero to ten, how well does your alma mater know what matters to you right now? The move that follows is small and cheap, which is to stop asking for money first. She tells of a note with no ask that drew a reply in twenty minutes and, weeks later, a first-ever gift from someone who’d never given. The line I keep coming back to came from a birthday party, where a parent thanked the host for including them rather than inviting them. That’s the whole thing.
Summary of Keynote Article is Primarily AI-Generated
Big Themes This Week
Alumni owe us nothing, which puts the work back on us
We measure what alumni do for us, not how known they feel
Recognition before the ask is the pipeline, not a detour from it
Team Discussion Questions
If we put the net known score on our next survey, what would it say?
Where are we leading with an ask when recognition would land better?
What would it take to welcome our alumni in rather than invite them,
November Agora
Topic: Everybody’s Working for the (William & Mary) Weekend!
Date: Thursday, November 5 from 12 - 1 pm ETSpeaker: Kelly Holdcraft, Executive Director of Alumni Success at William & Mary
Kelly will detail William & Mary Weekend DC 2026 which featured nearly 50 events with more than half sold out, over 1,100 attendees, and 15 university schools and units represented over a four-day weekend. From a kickoff celebration with NFL alumni to an immersive MLB college game day to a presidential conversation on artificial intelligence to tours of our 90-foot coastal marine research vessel to a sold-out auction and more, the William & Mary Weekend offered once-in-a-lifetime intellectual, professional, cultural and social experiences to all who participated!
