A different kind of happy hour: Young alumni connect

They may be “zoomed out,” but a highly engaged group of alumni, current students and faculty took time to gather Thursday night in a Young Alumni Zoom Happy Hour, hosted by the Office of Alumni Engagement.

The Zoom gathering was the first in a series featuring different ‘Berg academic departments; this one highlighted faculty from communication and political science.

In all, 28 primarily young alumni joined the event, and were generous in sharing networking information with current students Kyle Alexander, Emma Baughman, McCartney Betz, Katie Baumann, Phariz Watkins and Isabel Chasney.

“This was an incredible group of young alumni,” said Ashley Helmstetter, executive director of Alumni Engagement and Major Gifts. “They talked about their jobs in the COVID-19 world and many of them shared their contact information and job openings with our students. It was beautiful. The conversations were great.”

Five faculty members also participated: Drs. Julie and Marc O’Reilly, Dr. Robin Heaton, Nathan Cutietta and Dr. Josh Bowman.

“Our faculty did a great job interacting with the young alumni and I think they appreciated seeing some familiar faces,” Ashley said. “I loved it. It was the best Zoom I’ve ever been on.”

The next Young Alumni Zoom Happy Hour is scheduled for October 22 and will feature Drs. David Hogan and Courtney DeMayo Pugno from the History Department.