The Office of Alumni Affairs last week selected 24 Seniors to serve as Student Alumni Representatives (STARs). The STARs will work with alumni throughout the year on several different projects. The group was created to help Seniors connect with alumni and transition to live beyond Andover. The STARs held their first meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the relations between Andover alumni and the Senior class of 2010. Deborah Murphy, Director of Alumni Affairs, hosted the dinner on Tuesday at her house, where she and the STARs discussed future Alumni Council Meetings, the launch of the online alumni directory and Alumni Roundtable Dinners. Alumni Council Weekend will convene during the first weekend of November. Over the weekend, the STARs will meet with alumni and share their Andover experiences over lunch. The alumni will then split into small groups to discuss Non Sibi Day, Andover admissions, Alumni Regional Events, alumni-student mentoring and various uses of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. The STARs help to organize two Alumni Roundtable Dinners per term by writing biographies for the visiting alumni and partaking in the dinner table conversations. This year, STARs will also be able to register for and test Blue Link, the new online alumni directory. Some of the STARs from last year’s class of 2009 used Blue Link last year to contact alumni about potential internships. Blue Link was useful for students in the college application process. The directory enabled students to reach out to alumni who had attended or were currently attending the colleges to which they were applying. The entire class of 2010 will have access to Blue Link by winter term this year. The STARs are also working to set up an internship program for Seniors. This program is the school’s response to student interest in working with alumni in their respective career fields. The STARs are responsible for many other Senior events throughout the year leading up to graduation. They plan the “One Hundred Days Party,” held 100 days before graduation. “[The party is] about celebrating the Seniors in their journey through Senior year,” said Murphy. The STARs will also raise funds for the Senior class gift. The fundraising process will begin this winter. According to Murphy, the STARs program is not meant to be a serious commitment, but rather a convenient and productive way for Seniors to make connections with alumni. “We’ll allow all of [the STARs] to work with alumni, and they are very excited to be part of [the program],” said Murphy. “I think the kids will have fun with this.” Murphy said “[I think] of the alumni as the Seniors’ Blue Keys. Just as the Blue Keys help the new students to acclimate to Andover, the Seniors are in that period right now of crossing over from becoming Seniors to alumni.” She continued, “[STARs] allows students to engage with the Alumni Affairs office, and it allows the alumni to encourage class spirit through a bunch of different points over the year leading to graduation.”
