On behalf of the Gannon University Alumni Association, I would like to thank the editorial staff of The Gannon Knight for providing us with valuable space in their newspaper each month to communicate with our future alumni.

I found myself at an event last week (not accidentally) with fellow Gannon alumni and high school seniors in Pittsburgh who have been accepted to Gannon. I was caught off guard when someone asked me to look back on my transition from high school to college and think about the questions that I had about entering the next stage of life. It wasn’t that I can’t remember what it was like taking my first campus tour or the day that I moved into Wehrle as a freshman (because I remember both vividly), but because we communicate and live in a dramatically different world.

Many of the ways in which we communicate with our friends and family weren’t around. Facebook was still a Harvard network and Twitter was barely a thought in Jack Dorsey’s mind. Needless to say our world has changed quickly, but at the center of these social and communicative innovations are relationships.

For the graduating seniors, you’ve spent the past four years or more building and cultivating relationships with your peers, professors, and the larger community. I have the honor of participating in the annual Founders’ Day Awards Convocation and commencement ceremony and look forward to celebrating the future of our graduating seniors. If you’re attending Founders’ Day you’ll hear me speak about the importance of relationships in your life. As you are preparing for the next steps in your lives, make the effort to maintain and grow these relationships and create more that will be impactful in your personal and professional careers.

By engaging with the Alumni Association you are joining a contingent of 35,000 people around the world. The Alumni Association works with all levels of the university to create lifelong connections and opportunities to engage with your fellow alumni. No matter where you end up I can all but guarantee that you’ll meet someone who has a Gannon connection.

The easiest way for you to become engaged with the Alumni Association is by creating an online profile at gannonalumni.org and keeping the office informed of your whereabouts, in location and both personally and professionally. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/GannonAlumniAssociation and find out ways to become involved in your city.

You never know when you’ll meet a new neighbor, coworker, or boss with whom you share an alma mater. For a smaller university, our alumni reach is global.

Brian Kurtz ‘08
President
Gannon University Alumni Association
kurtz004@gannon.edu