What is an Area Alumni Association?
Since the 2003 National Assembly, President Rich Crosby and the National Executive Committee have placed a large emphasis on alumni involvement in the fraternity. For nearly half a century, alumni involvement has been minimal if any. There has been no real alumni program to speak of. The current movement to bring alumni back into the fraternity's everyday operation began in the 1990s, spawning the creation of the Area Alumni Association, the Province Alumni Coordinator appointed position, and most recently the National Director of Alumni Relations. The fraternity recently defined the role of the alumni Sinfonian as follows: The alumni Sinfonian has an obligation to support the Fraternity's efforts to build musical students into men of high ideals and to ensure that the Sinfonia experience is available for generations of students to come.
So what is an Area Alumni Association? The first AAA was organized in the late 1990s in Washington, D.C. The Washington, D.C. Area Alumni Association (D.C.A.A.A.) paved the way for the Philadelphia, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Central Florida Area Alumni Associations and countless new alumni interest groups all over the country - the New England Alumni interest group being one of these groups. By the official definition of an Area Alumni Association, Alumni Associations can offer opportunities for sociability, musical activity, and leadership similar to those enjoyed in the collegiate chapter.
Activities
The Area Alumni Associations and interest groups hold a wide variety of activities. Each has occasional meetings to discuss pending business, but more often the groups simply get together "just because." Evening meetings at restaurants or pubs make great opportunities for socializing. Weekend music rehearsals at a member's house or apartment can lead to Mills Music Missions at local retirement homes or hospitals, or perhaps area step sings. Annual celebrations of Founder's Day can be celebrated by the official ceremony, and perhaps a performance of the Ritual. Representation at local Province Workshops provide interaction with collegiates from all over the region and even more sociability and musical endeavors. Other possibilities include sponsorship of area music and cultural events, sponsorship of area collegiate chapters, putting on annual concerts at a local concert hall - limitless options.
So does affiliation with an interest group or Alumni Association sound like fun to you? If you are in New England, just call, e-mail or write us! If you are in another Association's district, look them up. If you aren't, look into starting your own interest group. After all, we are not simply Sinfonians while in college. Burrell once said, "Fraternity, in spirit, is not, as some may imagine, a four years' college course policy. In its real essence, it is what may be aptly termed a life insurance writ on the tablets of mens' hearts, paying precious dividends on demand." He knew what he was talking about- once a Sinfonian, always a Sinfonian.
