UMass Magazine Online

Winter 2005

Departments

Alumni connections

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A Fruitful Partnership

A New Kind of Farm a New Breed of Farmer

Dear One Absent This Long While

Alumni connections

Measuring Success on Richter's Scale
A revitalized Alumni Club makes waves in San Diego




	Dave Richter ’96 cheered for the New England Patriots when the team visited San Diego.

DAVID RICHTER ’96, FINANCIAL ADVISOR with H&R Block, has been the San Diego Alumni Club leader for two years. We asked him why he’s so enthusiastic about his volunteer role.

Q: Why do you volunteer as San Diego Alumni
Club Leader?
A: UMass Amherst gave me great life lessons: work hard, live life well and take care of people. As a freshman, I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I walked away after graduation knowing that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to.
When I moved to San Diego, I wanted a way to meet up with other people who shared similar UMass Amherst experiences. Revitalizing the San Diego Alumni Club was the easiest way to accomplish this. Now it is about helping alumni to meet each other and using those relationships to get ahead in life. There are almost 900 UMass Amherst alumni living in the San Diego area—what a tremendous resource to the university.

Q: What are the rewards of being a club leader?
A: An alumnus from the Class of 1947 attended our last event and brought his yearbook to show us what UMass Amherst was like in his day. It is very fulfilling to run into people like that. Every few months an alum will call or email and
let me know that they are moving to the area. Having been in that position before, I do all I can to make sure that they have people they can relate to when they get here.

Q: What are some of the ways your club has connected San Diego area alumni to each other and to the university?
A: The club was able to form a partnership with a local restaurant, owned by a UMass Amherst alumnus, which caters almost exclusively to people from New England. We have held many events there and every time you walk in, you feel like you’re home. I’ve met people there wearing UMass Amherst T-shirts. Alumni get excited to find an opportunity to meet more people from their alma mater.
Every six weeks or so, the club hosts a networking event featuring prominent alums who talk about their career paths and how they’ve gotten where they are today. These events give alumni the opportunity to meet potential employers and make connections with one another. Recently, the club invited Mike Hislop ’77, CEO of Il Fornaio, and Bonnie Dumanis ’73, San Diego’s district attorney.

Q: Why should UMass Amherst alumni get involved with their local alumni clubs?
A: You never know who you’ll meet! Last year a couple attended one of our social hours. After speaking with them, I realized that the woman, Sherri Zoltek Tracey ’93, was the older sister of a friend of mine from school. Since then, Sherri and her husband, Doug, have become close friends with my wife, Samantha, and me. Another time I had the opportunity to hear Bonnie Dumanis ’73 speak at a networking event. She’s a good person to know when you’re in a pinch!

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A Doorway to the World

States of Celebration

Measuring Success on Richter's Scale

Measuring Success on Richter's Scale: larger image

From the Playing Field to the Classroom

From the Playing Field to the Classroom: larger image