On March 4th, five REAL Bears general members Elvy Ramirez,Summer Holmes, Gabriella Billups, Monique Fahy, and Nafisatu Bangura accompanied by their advisors and three Traditions Council members attended a two-day Council for Advancement and Support of Education Affiliated Student Advancement Programs (CASE ASAP) conference in Stillwater Oklahoma. On the first day of the conference we were welcomed by the president of the alumni association Chris Batchelder, and the president of OSU foundation Kirk Jewell. Mr. Jewell spoke about the importance of student leaders and stated that student leaders are the backbone of the Alumni Association. We were also welcomed by the host of the event Lyndsay Parks, OSU student Alumni Board executive director and Courtney Wolfe, OSU student foundation president.
At the conference the R.E.A.L. Bears present for the student leaders that attended. Our topic was “How to engage ALL of your members” which was a success, and had a great turn out. We were able to provide a framework of how our organization and how we have been able to successfully recruit a diverse group of students, not based on race but also intellectually, social skills, leadership skills and much more.
At the conference we learned more about other schools’ student alumni association programs. I had the opportunity to attend two different sessions. My first session was presented by The University of New Mexico, here I learned about recruitment strategies, a beneficial presentation that gave me ideas that I can share with members of R.E.A.L Bears to improve recruitment. My second session was presented by the student foundation of Oklahoma State University. There I learned ways to thank donors and show them appreciation. This presentation was also very informative and had great ideas that can be used by R.E.A.L Bears. Going to these presentation really made a difference in how I viewed R.E.A.L. Bears.
Attending the CASE ASAP conference was a great opportunity for me as a general member, because I had the chance to learn from other student leaders and see the importance of the Alumni Association. I think more REAL BEARS members should attend this conference because they will be able to learn the skills of becoming a leader, the skills of listening and being apart of an organization that wants us to succeed, not only their organization but in school, and in everything we do as students.