University of Virginia Library

Alumni Responsibilities

Caught up in the agony of comps and the
prospect of final exams, perhaps the only way
fourth-year men maintain a grip on sanity is
to realize that their fourth-year academic
career will soon be over. With this termination
they will be entering a new association with
the University.

Perhaps one of the most immediate items
individual students of the class of '69 will
want to concern themselves with is a
consideration of life membership in the
Alumni Association.

Membership in the association will provide
a number of benefits for both the perspective
alumnus and the University as a whole. A
student-faculty loan fund containing resources
of about $250,000 is certainly one of the
most vital services the Alumni Association
provides. This fund provides emergency funds
in cases where normal channels are not
immediately available and can also arrange loans
on terms less stringent than normally
required. Membership in the association also
helps provide for publication of the Alumni
News, upkeep of Alumni Hall, programs for
alumni on weekends of sporting events,
programs for various alumni chapter organizations,
fund raising drives, and a complete
mailing list of all University alumni.

There are several possible plans to make
payment of the contribution of $200 over a
10-year period as easy as possible for the
student. The graduate may pay $5 after his
first year of earning, $10 after his second and
third years and $25 thereafter for the next
seven years. Prospective law or graduate
students may defer payment until completion
of their degrees. Also, any alumni employed
for low wages, such as VISTA or Peace Corps
volunteers, may defer payment until their
earning power increases sufficiently.

This year the Association has again
presented its annual challenge to the graduating
class: if 200 graduates join the
organization, then the class will be presented a
check for $5,000 at its tenth reunion. Each of
the four preceding classes well exceeded the
goal of 200, with an average of about 400 life
members per year.

The Alumni Association's drive for life
membership is a cause well worth considering.