Alumni phone calls

Never got a call from my high school asking from money... then again I live in NJ and went to high school in NJ, where taxpayers foot the bill for everything the public school does and none of the booster clubs have tried to track me down. However I expect to be getting letters and/or calls this year to attend my 20-year reunion, which I'm not going to do.

 

I got an invite to my 5-year reunion -- which was a total waste of time because nobody had really done anything yet -- but never got an invite to the 10th or 15th. I guess they couldn't find me, not that I would have gone.

 

Same here.... got the invite to the 5 and skipped it. Never got an invite to the 10 or 15. Now it will be interesting to see how they try tracking me down for the 20th. Bombard me with e-mails via Classmates.com or do something else.

 

You should have told him you expect an honorary degree for the shit they put you through.

 

My high school has never called me.

My college, OTOH, is good for 1-2 calls a year. And since they fired the advisor of the school paper about 10 years ago for not having a PhD -- never mind the fact he was a former press secretary to the mayor of LA and city editor of one of the suburban LA papers, not to mention a damn good teacher -- I haven't given them a dime.

I tell the poor schlub who calls why I'm not going to donate. Considering they were born about the time I graduated from college and were in grade school when he got fired, it's hard for them to relate. But they hear the story anyway.

 

I've always thought schools should give a five year "grace period" for soliciting alumni donations. Nothing makes me more angry than to get calls/e-mails/letters when I'm trying to figure out how to make the last packet of Ramen last three days because my degree can't get me a decent-paying job.*



* While this isn't currently the case, it was when I first graduated and was pulling in $13K/year as an intern. My situation is better, but not much, because the state recently informed me I qualify for food stamps.

 

Letters, no phone calls. Tons of letters

 

No calls, only letters here.

 

wow frank - you are like a fine scotch. the more i read you, the more i respect you.

 

I recently got an e-mail from my alma mater thanking me for my pledge and asking me to actually shell out the money. Only problem is I shelled out the money months ago, shortly after making the pledge. I wrote back, pointing this out and expressing I hoped it was a mistake on their part and not an attempt to get more money out of people who'd already donated but didn't keep as good of records as I did. I got a very apologetic response.

 

While going on college visits this year for my daughter, we went to one college in the pacific northwest (what the hell...I'll out them, it was Lewis and Clark) and while we were on the tour, we were asked for a donation to the college building fund. Mind you, my daughter had not been accepted...NOR HAD EVEN APPLIED! But we were asked for money.

We excused ourselves from the tour and went back to the hotel.

 

My school pissed me off with their very first call to me. I had just graduated a few months before and was about to start my very low paying first job. They asked me to donate $250 in honor of the school's 250th anniversary. I thought that was a ridiculous amount to ask for from someone who had just graduated. When I agreed to donate a much smaller amount than that, I got lots of attitude from the person who called. I've never given another penny, even though I love the school, go back for Homecoming, reunions and sporting events.