Welcome letter from our I Association President
Welcome letter from our I Association President
Dear I Association Members and Friends:
On behalf of the I Association Board of Directors, it is my privilege to welcome you to a new year. The purpose of the I Association is to promote alumni activities which assist Indiana University, the IU Alumni Association, and IU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. It is an exciting time and we hope you take the time to navigate our Web site and learn more about the events and services we offer our members.
We would like to extend an invitation for all I-Men and I-Women to join us in fun and fellowship as we conduct seven football tailgates, the I Association Golf Outing, the Grotke and Clevenger Award Banquets, the 25 and 50 Year Reunions, and a variety of other great events in 2009.
The I Association was formed three years ago as the compilation of the I-Men and I-Women Associations. We are very proud of our accomplishments to date:
- The merging of the I-Men and I-Women’s Associations in January 2007 has become the benchmark event of the I Association in our progress into the future.
- The I Association’s major capital campaign gift contribution has demonstrated this organization’s commitment to our university and its Athletic Department.
- We established the Grotke Award in 2008, bringing recognition to deserving alumnae of IU.
- In any organization such as ours, its strength and effectiveness is greatly influenced by our active membership. Our membership has increased 20 percent in the past year and we feel we have the potential to grow that number significantly.
- The I Association’s resolve in diversifying our board structure to include representation of not only women’s athletics, but all non-revenue sports has been exemplary.
- Involvement in the Athletic Commencement Open Houses in the presentation of “I” pins recognizes the newest alumni.
- The newly designed Web site gives us worldwide presence and serves as a conduit for our alumni and our organization.
Our organization will only grow if we become more inclusive and reach out to diverse groups with an invitation to become members of our board of directors. There are so many talented and enthusiastic Indiana alumni with both passion and skills, and it is imperative that we seek out those talents and capitalize on those gifts. With that said, we need not lose sight of our younger alumni. In reality, they have a more intimate relationship to our current student body and it will serve us well to schedule events for these recent graduates to allow them to stay connected to our university.
In the days ahead, your board will study creative ways to improve our outreach and communication to strengthen our abilities to serve. The branding and marketing of our I Association is one of many initiatives we will examine and execute in the months ahead. In this ever-changing world of communication, our Web site continues to be the most attractive vehicle by which to accomplish some of our goals.
If we are to succeed in the joint effort to ensure that we are meeting your needs and expectations, we need your support and participation. Come join us! We welcome your input concerning upcoming activities and events, and look forward to seeing you soon.
Go Hoosiers!
Sandy Searcy
I Association President