Notes From Under the Oaks | January 2015

2015 marks 151 years since Pacific University alumni first began formal methods of keeping in touch with one another. The roots of our Alumni Association go back to 1864; just one year after Pacific graduated our first class comprised of a single graduate. While the tools to keep track of alumni must have been fairly simple back then, the act of staying connected would have been fraught with issues.

Today connectivity seems to run in our veins, but we’re still challenged to keep up with thousands of our alumni. To this end, we’re embarking on an alumni census. Our last directory was published 10 years ago. Although 10 years is but a blink in the scope of our long history, it has been a transformational 10 years for Pacific and for the Alumni Association. In just one decade we have doubled the number of Boxer alumni roaming the world. We keep an impressive database in an effort to document the adventures and successes of our alumni, but it’s important to perform a formal census every decade or so.

We’ve partnered with Harris Connect to perform our census. In late March alumni will receive a postcard or email requesting they call Harris at their convenience to update their record. Following the records update, alumni will have the option to purchase a directory. Alumni who wish to be included will be listed in the directory even if they do not make a purchase.

There are a myriad of reasons why an alumni census is necessary, but one of the greatest is to help the university keep track of the incredible lives of our alumni. This task must have been a bit easier in 1870, even with the limitations of communication, because all 17 alumni could be listed on a single page in the back of the course catalog. In 2015 we need your help to achieve this goal.

We want to know not only where you live and how to contact you, but how you spend your days. That information not only supports our great pride in our alumni, it helps us show various career paths to students trying to find their way in the world.

I urge you to pick up the phone when you get the census postcard or email and call our partners at Harris to update your record.  We look forward to hearing your story!

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me if ever there is anything I can do to be of support.

Best wishes,

Martha Calus-McLain '03 
Director of Alumni Relations