Recent Alumni Board offers opportunity to stay engaged

“I joined the Recent Alumni Board (RAB) to get more involved with Virginia Tech,” explained Dalton Davidson ’14. “Virginia Tech has provided, and continues to provide, me with a lot of tools to help me be successful outside of the classroom. It was time for me to give back and help the next generation of Hokies in the Pamplin College of Business.”

Formed in 2016, the Recent Alumni Board is described as “a diverse group of young professionals whose work is aimed at advancing the present and future community of Pamplin by contributing to the quality of its programs, providing a voice to recent alumni on relevant issues and encouraging involvement from recent graduates in support of activities that benefit the Pamplin community,” according to its bylaws.

Members of the RAB are “recent” graduates of Pamplin, defined as between two and 10 years removed from graduation from Virginia Tech. Members serve terms of two years.

Davidson, an estimator and project manager with Power Electric Company and board member with the RAB, stated that his participation with the board has “provided me the opportunity to network with other Hokies from different industries.”

He continued, “It has been really cool to be able to talk about issues I'm facing and see how others are handling that same issue in their line of work.”

The mission of the RAB is to support Pamplin by developing mutually beneficial relationships between recent alumni, students, faculty, and administration. Through the engagement of recent Pamplin alumni, the board seeks to provide critical insight to Pamplin leaders and create opportunities for current students to strengthen the foundations of their professional careers.

I see the RAB becoming a source for students that are currently in Pamplin who are preparing to graduate and going into the workforce,” said Davidson.

“Next fall, the RAB is planning on offering a seminar on interviewing tips to better help Pamplin students prepare for interviews, whether it is for an internship or a job opportunity.”

Participation in the RAB also helps to enhance Virginia Tech’s culture of philanthropy. One of the university’s strategic priorities is to reach an alumni giving rate of 22 percent by 2022, which is the university’s sesquicentennial, or 150^th anniversary. The Pamplin College of Business currently sits at just under 22 percent participation among alumni.

For Davidson, the decision to join the RAB was directly connected to his experience in Blacksburg. “Virginia Tech's motto is Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). I took that to mean when you graduate you are given that expectation of serving. This includes serving your community, your work, and, especially, Virginia Tech.

“That's why I feel at Virginia Tech you have a duty to stay engaged. I remember alumni coming back and speaking to our classes and just how much I got out of the classes on those days. We must continue to serve Virginia Tech to help the generations behind us. So, when it’s their turn, they can go out and ‘invent the future.’”

For more information on the Recent Alumni Board, please contact Crystal Jefferson, director of engagement for the Pamplin College of Business, at crystal.jefferson@vt.edu.