KSU ALUMNI ORGANIZE REUNION IN CYBERSPACE

The 4th Annual Black Alumni Reunion was held last weekend at Kent's Rathskeller. It was a very successful event with approximately 300 Black Alumni in attendance. Members came from all over the country. The member who came the furthest distance was Adisa Alkebulan from San Diego, CA.

Event organizers Andrea Wright and Kellea Tibbs brought the event into the 21st century by notifying attendees via a new network on Ning.com a relatively new networking website. Ning allows members who sign up to communicate with each other 24/7 using a variety of user created networks for free.

The Kent State Black Alumni Association now has a membership of almost 300 people. Their network on Ning was established in 2008 and is now in full force and effect.

Andrea Wright, one of the founders of the association, which just gained and official status at Kent, states on her personal page that,

"I count it a blessing to be able to greet all of the Black Alumni from Kent State University. Thank you for joining the social networking site designed to be a tool to bring us back together to remember our days on the campus in Kent, Ohio. Kent State University is one of Ohio's top public universities. The university played an important role in all of our lives. It's continuing to make a difference in young student's lives and as Black Alumni, we can play an important role.

The ultimate purpose is to reconnect and unify ourselves for one purpose. The purpose is to be officially recognized again as The Black Alumni Chapter. As an official chapter, we will be able to access budgeted funds to do programming designed with not only bringing us together but assisting those students still matriculating at the university.

Our goal is not just to socialize. However, through socializing and networking, we can broaden our goals and maximize our possibilities."

One of the ways that the organization plans to meet this goal is by creating a scholarship fund, financed initially by the admission fees collected by the association at the reunion. Now that the association has been recognized by the KSU Alumni Association they can apply make funding requests from the university and take the organization to the next level.

The party's over, but the beat goes on. We look forward to covering future events sponsored by the Kent State Black Alumni Association.