Just 20 months back, a group of 76 young men and women beaming with passion, energy, ideas and dreams joined the MBA class of 2009.

On April 25, the same group was inducted as a member to the prestigious William and Mary Alumni, an exceptional group of 70000 alums spread all across the world (including 12,000 from Mason School of Business) who have all, throughout the history of the college, have contributed to every walk of life from politics to business to performing arts.

College takes pride in educating leading public figures like U.S . Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Tyler and industry captains like Raymond A. “Chip” Mason, Alan B. Miller and Beth Comstock.

The exhaustive list of William and Mary alumni is a reflection of both the quality and the contribution that W&M graduates have made to this world.

Historically, institutions have been reaching out to their alumni to raise funds for development and other growth opportunities and that would always remain the central idea, especially if you have studied at public ivy like W&M where achieving educational excellence under choking resource constraints is a constant challenge.

But there is a need to add more dimensions to this relationship, as alumni we need to invest not only financially but intellectually and emotionally.

Rich Shermer, Director of Alumni Relations,  said “Brothers & Sisters welcome to the family.”  I would like to extend his invitation to all of you who are not connected with us or have lost connection, it’s time to reconnect, restart and reenergize this relationship.