This spring, alumni and their daughters came to campus for Bring Your Daughter to Clemson, an opportunity for parents to share their love of the University with their daughters. Girls ages 6-18 toured campus, learned about majors and student activities, met students and professors, and got a small taste of what it means to be a Clemson Tiger. More than 200 participated in the weekend event sponsored by the Women’s Alumni Council.
Outstanding faculty members were honored, and the president cited achievements driving Clemson to new heights in the world of academics. Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Bob Jones presented awards of achievement to four outstanding faculty and staff members: Chris Heavner, Bruce Martin, Thomas Britt, and Michael Sehorn.
Over 100 alumni and 30 employers participated in the Alumni Association’s first Alumni Career Fair in May. The event, held at CU-ICAR’s TD Gallery in Greenville, offered alumni the opportunity to explore career options with area employers as well as network with other alumni.
This career fair was sponsored by Alumni Career Services, which was launched based on feedback from previous alumni surveys. There are plans to expand with events in areas where there are large numbers of alumni, and eventually to offer events through clubs across the county. If your company is interested in participating in an Alumni Career Fair, contact Deborah Cremer at dcremer@clemson.edu.
More than 370 alumni and friends attended the Golder Tiger Reunion in June, where more than 60 members of the Class of ’66 celebrated their 50th anniversary weekend by being inducted as Golden Tigers. Two members of the Class of ’41 were inducted as Platinum Tigers.
During the induction ceremony, guests heard University historian Jerry Reel speak about Clemson history and life in 1966. Attendees heard an update on University construction projects and the college reorganization, as well as a presentation about the James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center. They also toured the Watt Family Innovation Center, athletics facilities and the historic Fort Hill mansion and Hanover House.
More than 5,000 alumni and fans joined the Alumni Association, IPTAY and the Clemson Forever Fund for the annual Prowl & Growl tour, where coaches Brad Brownell and Dabo Sweeney offered updates on the latest news in athletics. Florence had the highest attendance, with 1,290 followed by the Midlands (Columbia/Lexington) at 890. Prowl & Growl went beyond the borders of South Carolina with events in Atlanta and Charlotte. Make plans to join us next year!
We are excited to announce that Clemson has arrived in the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities Clemson Club supports not only the Twin Cities areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but also welcomes alumni, friends, family and fans from the surrounding areas of greater Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The Twin Cities Clemson Club started colonizing in late 2014 under the leadership of Tyler Morey ’10. The club held its first unofficial gathering for the Russell Athletic Bowl vs. Oklahoma at Freehouse in Minneapolis. The turnout was great for a cold and snowy Monday evening with 23 alumni, family and friends coming to cheer Tiger nation to victory. After the first event, Morey quickly drafted help from local alumni Kristen Hodgkins Braun ’02 and Paul Wisnewski ’85, M ’87. The club drew even bigger crowds in 2015 for the ACC Football Championship, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge against the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball team, and the National Championship game in January 2016. They also added more members to their leadership team — Heather Lankford
Huck ’99 and Natalie Patzin ’13, M ’14.
Members of the club are thrilled that the Minnesota Vikings drafted two of our young stars, Mackensie Alexander and Jayron Kearse, this spring. The club is planning a caravan to the Vikings Training Camp this summer to welcome Mack and Jayron to Minnesota as their first official event. The caravan is tentatively scheduled for the first Saturday
in August. Find the club on social media: Twitter at @TC_ClemsonClub and Instagram at @twincitiesclemsonclub.
For more information, email the club at twincitiesclub@alumni.clemson.edu.
A group of alumni, former faculty, exchange students and current students are beginning the process to form a Clemson Club in Japan. They recently gathered in Tokyo with a group of about 12, including former faculty members Toshiko and Yuji Kishimoto, at an izakaya (a Japanese gastropub) for drinks and food and then went to an Italian bar. They closed out the evening with another mixture of cultures: a traditional Japanese-style event closing punctuated with the cadence count.
The Baltimore/DC Clemson Club hosted a Pig Pickin’ in June at the Chevy Chase, Maryland, home of
Mike ’97 and Holly ’95 Cirrito. More than 125 alumni, parents and students attended the event. To find a Clemson Club in your area, visit clemson.edu/alumni.
More than 30 members of the New Orleans Clemson Club attended the Manning Award Ceremony on May 17th in support of this year’s recipient, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson’s mother and aunt also attended the ceremony that is hosted by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Brandon Streeter represented the football staff, and Stewart Summers represented the Alumni Association at the event.
Cooper Manning, son of Archie Manning and brother of Peyton and Eli Manning, presented the award to Watson on behalf of the Manning family. The Manning Award, now in its 12th year, was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting. The award is voted on by a panel of local and national media, as well as each of the Mannings.
Watson, the first sophomore to win the Manning Award, had 405 yards passing and 73 yards rushing for 478 yards of total offense against Alabama’s No. 2 ranked defense on Monday night in the National Championship game. The Crimson Tide defeated Clemson 45-40.
Nationally, Watson ranked first in the nation in QBR (87.8), third in the nation in points responsible for with 282, fifth in completion percentage (.678), eighth in touchdown passes with 35, eighth in total offense per game (347.3) and 12th in passing efficiency at 156.3. In addition to the Manning Award, Watson was named the consensus All-America quarterback, was third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, was the Most Valuable Player of the ACC and was the MVP of the ACC Championship game and the Orange Bowl.
Photo credit: Dawson Powers
Every three to four years, we survey alumni to gauge how we’re doing as an alumni association. We look to see how you feel about the University — about choosing to attend, your experience as a student and as an alumnus — and what impacts your current opinion of Clemson. We also want to discover what you need from us and how we can better serve you.
We use this information as we plan for the future, as we decide which programs need to change and how can better serve you, the alumni of Clemson.
This year, we sent out more than 65,000 surveys, and 3,782 of you responded. Here is just a snapshot of the survey results.
The “Satisfaction Index” is calculated by averaging responses to these four questions, with the result being expressed as a percentage.
• How would you rate your decision to attend Clemson?
• How often do you promote Clemson to others?
• Which of the following best describes your experiences as an alumnus/a?
• Which of the following best describes your overall current opinion of Clemson?
While the national average is 80 percent, Clemson’s number has moved up from 89 percent in 2012.
When asked what impacts their overall current opinion of the University, alumni ranked these items highest:
• Value and respect for degree
• History/tradition
• Accomplishments of students
• Providing scholarships
• Campus aesthetics (e.g., buildings, grounds, etc.)
Alumni rated email, Clemson World magazine and the Echo (electronic newsletter) as the three most important communication methods. Younger alumni feel that we’re not using email as effectively as possible. We also need to improve in the areas of invitations to University and alumni activities, and to communicate more effectively about services and benefits of being an alumnus.
When asked, “How important is it for you and alumni in general to do the following and how well does Clemson do at supporting alumni in doing them?” alumni ranked four areas of alumni involvement as “very important.” The top two were serving as ambassadors by promoting Clemson to others and identifying job opportunities for graduates. In both of those areas, we need to provide more support for alumni. Third ranked was recruiting students, and fourth was providing financial support for Clemson (e.g., donations). Alumni feel Clemson supports them well in those roles.
Alumni rated the following services as most needed:
• Networking
• Career search strategies
• Career planning, mapping and goal setting
Not surprisingly, all three were ranked higher by younger alumni.
Thank you for letting us know what you think. We have already begun planning in the areas you’ve told us need improvement, and we’ll communicate with you about the process and ask for feedback.
