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We Have to Start Meeting Like This!

It's a good idea whose time has come!

One of Dean Goodridge's goals when he came to Ohio State in 1996 was to find ways to build better bridges to alumni and friends of the college.

Obviously, one basic way to do this is to form a biological sciences alumni society. Worthwhile? Absolutely! Easy? No!

This worthy goal requires a great deal of effort on the part of a great many people: the support of a dedicated group of college administrators and (MOST IMPORTANT) a dedicated cadre of alumni willing to be initiators in their own society.

If you've always wanted to be a mover and shaker, this is your golden opportunity! If you are already a mover and shaker, you can show the rest of us how it's done! Rarely does anyone get the chance to get in on the ground floor of a great project.

The formation of an alumni society requires following guidelines set down by the Alumni Association's Alumni Society office.

In the fall of 1997, we contacted an initial alumni focus group who came to campus to discuss the logistics of forming a formal alumni group. We met again in November to discuss in greater detail ways to get as many alums as possible involved in the process.

These few good alums have been vociferously supportive of coming home to the College of Biological Sciences, where they got their head start on their current careers, be it in teaching, research, business, industry, or the medical professions.

Those alums have been instrumental in convincing us that the desire to bring alumni together will find strong support among all alumni.

We Need You! We Need You!! We Need You!!!

That's the bottom line. We need the support of you, our alums; we need your input, your unique perspective on your own college experiences, and your ideas for our continued growth and excellence.

What's in it for me, you may well ask.

One of our alums, Dr. Eddie Richter, gives his answer in this issue.

And we can give you all sorts of good reasons, such as: networking; social activities; mentoring; recruiting top high school biology students; supporting college initiatives/programs you have particular interest in; finding out what we're up to; or coming back to campus and pretending to be 18 again.

But only you can provide the final answer to that question for yourself. Indeed, you may find some good reasons we haven't even thought of yet.

We DO have to start meeting like this. There are more than 12,000 good reasons why and every graduating class provides a few hundred more. Please join us.

A gentle reminder, Dear Reader: If you have not yet returned the Alumni Questionnaire we recently mailed to you, it is not too late! Please take a minute to fill it out and send it to: Larry Rummell, College of Biological Sciences, 484 W. 12th Ave., Cols., OH 43201; or you may FAX it to his attention at: 614-292-1538. Your interest and input are invaluable and very much appreciated. Thank you.