Connection

• Alumni feel most connected through:
  • Affinity-based communities (e.g., Greek life, Ebony Bobcat Network, Marching 110, shared residence halls, etc.).
  • Signature moments (e.g., Homecoming, Black Alumni Reunion, regional gatherings, etc.).
  • Giving back (mentoring students, serving on boards, recruiting students, speaking to classes, offering internships, supporting scholarships.).
• Emotional drivers include belonging, pride, nostalgia, and shared traditions and experiences.
• Home emerged as a defining concept.
• Connection often deepens years or decades after graduation.
• Connection often depends on personal invitation and relational entry points.
• Early exposure (student and recent grad connections) and family engagement strengthen long-term alumni engagement.
• The phrase Recruit, Retain, Return offers a useful lifecycle lens: alumni were recruited to come, retained to graduate, and now seek an intentional path to return.

Value

Alumni value:

• Engaging with purpose, giving back, and adding value (alumni want to give value, not just receive perks).
• Programming that respects their time, feels intentional, and offers clear takeaways (learning, impact, relationships, pride).
• Programming that emphasizes enjoyment, energy, exclusivity, and memorable experiences.
• Opportunities for learning and insight that help alumni understand why OHIO matters today — reinforcing pride, advocacy, and belonging.
• Evidence that alumni are valued beyond fundraising – including opportunities that celebrate, support, or engage alumni in non-financial ways.
• Networking and relationship-building. While alumni may no longer need networking in a traditional sense, they want context, understanding, pride, and meaningful ways to contribute.
• Diverse event formats and a variety of program types.
• Direct, personalized invitations/asks; authentic invites that inspire trust; peer-to-peer outreach.
• Alumni stories of success and inspiration, beyond traditions and nostalgia.

Inclusion

Alumni feel welcomed when:

• Invitations are genuine, personal, and clearly inclusive; and personalized outreach (gap: over-reliance on email and fundraising calls).
• They’re included in the planning – contributing expertise, ideas, access, and community insight so that programming resonates with more audiences and reflects lived experience more authentically.
• They can see themselves represented before arriving – in the invite language, imagery, and framing of expectations.
• When programming resonates and signals intentionality – from planning to execution to follow up.
• Events are facilitated intentionally (hosts, greeters, prompts, nametags).
• Regional programming and events celebrate the diversity of the alumni population.
• Professional, personal, and life experiences are validated.
• Humanized engagement taps alumni talents.
• There is space for cultural exchange and inclusion.
• They are seen and valued through personal invitations and leadership presence.
• Alumni whose OHIO experience was shaped by transfer, commuter, regional-campus, military, or nontraditional pathways may need distinct on-ramps to belonging.
• As alumni move through life stages, they want both targeted entry points that serve as a doorway back in, and broader shared experiences that sustain engagement over time; openness and flexibility matter.
  • Offerings across neighborhoods and suburbs, varied timing, family-friendly formats, and multiple types of programs.
• Representation matters. alumni want to see themselves reflected in Ohio Today, university marketing, alumni programming, and the broader OHIO narrative.
• Transparency also matters: alumni want the university to communicate clearly and credibly about changes affecting inclusion, belonging, and support for historically marginalized communities.

• Belonging is driven by purpose, recognition, and shared meaning (not attendance alone) alumni want to be known, remembered, and invited into impact.
• Engagement thrives on emotional connection, shared experience, and trust.
• Belonging is activated through being personally asked to contribute and add value in ways that matter.
• Alumni want to return with purpose – to support students, share expertise, mentor, volunteer, celebrate one another, and help shape the future of the community.
• One of the clearest pathways to alumni re-engagement is meaningful connection to current students.
• Belonging is a nonlinear, lifecycle experience; alumni often disengage and re-engage at different life stages, requiring intentional and varied re-entry points.
• Awareness gaps persist – even among engaged alumni – and are better understood as navigation, coordination, and trust gaps.
• Trust builds through consistency, follow-through, and visibility.
• Targeted and affinity-based programming remain essential. At the same time, alumni want stronger shared spaces that create a larger Bobcat identity across differences.
• Diversity, inclusion, and representation are critical, and programming should reflect the full range of voices, identities, and alumni experiences.
• Inclusion is increasingly experienced through design choices: representation, planning, venue, timing, story, transparency, and cultural resonance all shape whether alumni feel welcomed and valued.
  
   

• Purpose-Based Engagement – Clearly articulate why alumni are invited and how they matter; offer clear ways for alumni to contribute through mentoring, recruiting, advising, volunteering, and story-sharing.
• Early and delayed bridges to engagement (students and recent grads, regional and online grads, early- and mid-career, intergenerational and family programs).
  • Create intentional re-entry points for alumni at different life stages.
  • Recruit, Retain, Return – Develop clear and intentional alumni return pathways.
• Open + Flexible Programming – Fewer silos, more shared experiences across generations
  • Build trust through consistent regional programming and communication; peer-to-peer outreach; and transparency.
  • Regional outreach and virtual engagement for distant alumni as a belonging tool for geographically dispersed or differently engaged grads.
• One Big Space – Build stronger unity and shared Bobcat identity across programs, colleges, networks, and alumni communities while preserving affinity-based and culturally resonant pathways for engagement.
• Representation + Inclusive Storytelling – Diversify stories, imagery, publications, and marketing in which alumni can see themselves
• Belonging Infrastructure – Design the alumni experience intentionally so belonging is built into invitations, facilitation, pathways, and follow-up.
  • Train hosts and volunteers as belonging facilitators.
  • Design invitations through a belonging lens.
  • Normalize varied alumni identities and timelines of engagement.
  • Co-Created Programming – Invite alumni to help shape and design programming so offerings resonate more deeply and reflect multiple lived experiences.
  • Personalized reactivation – direct, people-centered outreach that reconnects alumni through trusted relationships, affinity groups, and leadership invitations.
  • Reduced friction + better navigation – simplify calendars, improve coordination, reduce communication overload, and make it easier to see what offerings fit a person’s interests, geography, and life stage.
  • Trust + transparency – be more explicit, timely, and credible in communication about changes affecting belonging, inclusion, and support for historically marginalized communities.

• Portfolio of Signature Experiences – Preserve Homecoming’s importance while strengthening and building other pathways for connection and return.
  • Pilot and build upon innovative ideas with signature “can’t-miss” events with strong/compelling marketing
  • Homecoming remains a powerful flagship experience, but it should not be the only high-caliber pathway through which alumni are invited to return
  • Inclusive cultural events
  • Sports-based programming
  • Bobcat Marketplace and spotlights on alumni businesses and success.
  • Year-long cohort programming/bundled or themed programming
  • Subscription-based programming for sustained engagement
• Learning as Engagement – Faculty access, institutional insight, impact narratives.
  • Position alumni programming as purposeful engagement, not just entertainment.

• Future Engagement – Host Bobcats All Ways Roundtable in Cincinnati in May 2026.
• Belonging Insights Report – Continue to refine insights report with findings from future Roundtables, with ongoing attention to themes, opportunities, and focus areas for programming and communication.
• Belonging Framework – Draft guiding principles—a “Belonging Lens”—to apply across all alumni engagement efforts.