The University Needs You—What Are You Waiting For?

By Charles Matthews in Letters, March | April 2014, The Big Picture on March 1, 2014 at 8:00 am | No Comments

Texas Exes can help get the best students to UT, make it affordable to attend, and tell the University’s best stories.

“We must all get together and work for a University of the first class. Membership in the Association puts every Ex-Student of the University into immediate touch with the University itself, and with the great body of those who have preceded or followed his own undergraduate days.”

UT president Robert E. Vinson wrote these words for an advertisement that ran in the Daily Texan in 1922. His words stand the test of time: 92 years later, membership in the Texas Exes does bring ex-students into immediate touch with the University. The more alumni we can get to join the Texas Exes, the more we can do for students and for the University, and better still the more volunteers available to support our activities. Every Texas Ex can help by volunteering to get one or more friends to join the Association.

Across the country, opportunities abound for members to get involved in supporting the University. This spring, the Texas Exes will partner with the admissions office to enlist alumni to call prospective admitted students and encourage them to enroll. This will be the third year alumni have teamed up with the University on this important effort that takes the energy, experience, and good feelings that so many alumni have toward UT and directs them at helping the University get the best students to attend. If you have the time and the interest to participate in this or similar projects, I invite you to join us. Learn more at texasexes.org/involved/volunteer.asp.

Many of these top students will hear again from the Exes, this time about scholarships. You should be proud to know that the Texas Exes awards more than $2.53 million in scholarships each year to UT students, much of which is raised by the many Texas Exes chapters and networks. About 60 percent of the scholarships factor in need, and 40 percent are strictly merit-based. They range in size from a few hundred dollars to a full ride, but all told about 700 Longhorns get checks from the Texas Exes that help make their education more affordable.

These funds are generated by the extraordinary generosity of donors large and small, and by the countless hours donated by Exes around the world. Regardless of where you are or what life stage you are in, you can participate in this noble effort. It’s easy to sometimes think that the Texas Exes is only about happy hours. We do organize lots of happy hours and game-watches, but often those get-togethers include raffles or auctions intended to raise scholarship money. On average, the Texas Exes hosts four events per day across the globe, so come on out and try one in your local area. If you’re a die-hard football fan, consider joining the Texas Exes Ambassadors, who help man the Alumni Center before the game during football season.

Finally, a word of thanks to the Texas Exes out there—from Beijing to Dubai to Dallas—who participated in Project Worldwide, our monthlong community-service initiative that took place in February. It is an awe-inspiring sight, and it does the University enormous credit to see thousands of former students from more than 60 chapters and networks giving back to their local communities, dressed in burnt orange, expanding and enhancing the brand of the University. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect President Vinson would be proud to see it.

Charles Matthews
President, Texas Exes

Tags: Charles Matthews, recruitment, The Big Picture, volunteering