Dear Fellow Alumni and Supporters,

 

We have entered a new period of Alumni leadership and I’m grateful for this opportunity to add to the rich legacy of accomplishments by the great leaders who have served in the role of President of South Carolina State University National Alumni Association.

 

We have reached memorable milestones as a University and as an Alumni Association and pledge to continue building an Association that will make us proud. We need for all graduates of SCSU to become a member of our Alumni Association. We are loyal sons and daughters, who are proud of the name we bear and what better way to demonstrate our appreciation than to become a member of the Alumni Association. I also pause to salute and say “thank you” to all alums, supporters, and stakeholders who have supported SCSU through the years.

 

We’ve known for a long time that the back-bone of the “Association” is for us to strengthen our local chapters and you may assist in this effort by joining the chapter nearest to where you reside. Another option is to join the National Alumni Association by becoming an At-Large-Member.

 

Please note that as graduates of SCSU, we support South Carolina State University in numerous ways and some of those ways are: 1) Recruit students to attend SCSU, 2) Provide financial resources to various scholarship funds, restricted as well as unrestricted, 3) Participate in SCSU Legislative Day to speak to State government officials about their support of SCSU, 4) Mentor current students, and 5) Help to create a network of employment opportunities for our graduates.

 

It is imperative that we increase our membership significantly and this will assist in the amount of funds that we raise in support of South Carolina State University. When our University President petitions Corporations and other potential donors for financial assistance to the University, the question is often asked: “What percentage of your graduates has made donations?” Therefore we have the power to influence the amount of donations that is given to SCSU by having a significant number of graduates to give back to the University.

 

Lastly, I encourage all alums to become ambassadors of South Carolina State University. We have numerous success stories that we need to tell and I will list just a few. (The number of Generals and other officers produced by our ROTC Program; The number of College Presidents who are alums; The Hall of fame football players from colleges in S.C. are all from SCSU; Our #13 ranking among HBCU according to U.S. News; and the Presidential Debate that took place on Campus in 2008. Our accomplishments are too numerous to list all of them in this space; however, it is very important that we do a better job of telling our story.

 

SCSU is our University; let’s continue our support.

 

Sincerely,

 

Nathaniel Howard

President, SCSUNAA

Class of 1972