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Show F Dan Portwood: Serving alumni is his credo Club, is comprised of graduates from 50 years or more ago. Portwood sees them as Dan Portwood is a man with a mission, and he brings a missionary's fervor to a unique group in that the generations they span had stronger relationships than the task at hand, which is serving the alumni of SUU. students of more recent generations. "Because they lived in harder times, they As director of Alumni Relations for some six months now, he's built a valued their relationships perhaps more than we do today," he says. "Today we reputation as the ultimate "people person." His forte is "stroking' others and value friendships, but it's not really the same as relationships, which tend to be letting them know that they are important to him. While with some, such works stronger and more lasting." · might seem disingenuous, w ith Portwood, one feels his ~ ortwood also deals with students of today and all sincerity. those graduates who fall between those two very This is a prime necessity for a person in his position. disparate age groups. He's working to rejuvenate an idea Few administrators are required to work with such that emerged here a few years ago, t hat of young alumni broadly based demographics. chapters. Also, Portwood has been charged with Portwood is not an alumnus of Southern U tah establishing chapters in areas around the region and University himself, but sees his involvement here as a presenting reunions in those areas. In past years, under symbol of his love for the institution. He's says he's the direction of now-retired Alumni Association director always loved Cedar City and the university and always Peg Thorley, such gatherings have been held in Las wanted to be a part of it. He's thrilled to now say he is. Vegas, Ogden, Sacramento and Phoenix. Two are planned He's proud to point out that his great, great for later this year, in conjunction with the SUU-USU grandfather James D. James, was an original settler of basketball game in the Delta Center and the Cougar Cedar C ity and among the founders of the university. Classic in Provo. "My greatest challenge here is inspiring alumni to be In addition, he is planning a summer update of the active and to help them realize that they are the greatest Alumni Directory last published in 1991. asset to the university," he says. Portwood is also involved in the administration of the He puts a great deal of his time toward building the newly established National Alumni Board, an idea of data base of al umni, as well. president Gerald R. Sherratt and chaired by Cyndi Gilbert. Portwood is a 1981 graduate of BYU in political board includes Dr. Val Clark of Newport Beach, The science and business. H e worked for the past six years Calif., RaNae Morris of Los Osos, Calif., Kris Gornichec of in two locations for the law firm Steptoe and Johnson, Henderson, Nev., Mark Slack of Salt Lake City, Claudia which has 250 lawyers in its Washington D.C. office Ward of Park City, Carl Tuft of Monroe, Utah, Vaughn and 20 in its Phoenix office, w hich, at the ti me McDonald of St . George, Maude Halversen of Cedar City, Portwood served there, included now Secretary of the Ronald Millett of Riverton, Utah, David Moody of Las Interior Bruce Babbitt. Vegas, Nev., Larry Hunter of Conifer, Colo, and Ron Portwood and his wife Karen have six children. Cardon of the Student Alumni Association. The group Portwood thrives on the dynamics of groups. He will meet twice yearly, during Homecoming and points to SUU's older grads as particularly exciting. The Commencement. SUU Director of Alumni Relations Dan Portwood. Anniversary Club, until this year known as the SO-Year Alumni: An integral component of SUU By LARRY BAKER JOURNAL EDITOR • Although the exact figures are difficult to track, by all estin1ates, SUU has approximately 32,000 alumni who live across the United States and around the world. • Among the most illustrious of alumni are Utah Gov. Michael 0. Leavitt, United States Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.J, former U.S. Bureau of Reclamation head Ellis Armstrong, former C hicago Bear safety Lenny Walterschied, Maj. Gen. James Miller, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, Darrell Krueger, president of Winona State (Minn.) University, Gerald Day, president of Snow College, Ronald Millet, president of Deseret Book, J. Elliot Cam eron, commissioner of the education system of the C hurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Walter Gibson, one of the most distinguished scientists in America. • The ranks of SUU alumni family members swelled considerably this year when quintuplets were born to 1981 accounting grad Chad Gillies and his wife, Jelene Stapley Gillies, who also attended SUU. T he family lives in southern California. .. How important are alumni to an institution in general and Southern Utah University in particular? Alumni have been, throughout their association with their particular alma mater, the primary focus of the institution's energies. They are the product of the institution . Not only have they received from the college or university, but they have given to it as well, though their involvement as students and in their subsequent years. Many believe that the group constitutes perhaps the greatest single resource on which an institution can depend. Alumni offer the richest potential as resources for advice, advocacy, student recruitment and financial support, according to the Council for Advancement and Support for Education. Another factor too important to overlook is that alumni comprise a common thread of continuity that runs throughout the years of a college or university. Fred Adams notwithstanding, the alumni of SUU are the only nontransient facet of the campus community. Administrators, faculty and staff members come and go. The average tenure of a university president is less than seven years. The primary question that alumni associations asked themselves in their infancy (they've been traced back as far as 1821) was what road should they take: Are alumni organizations designed to allow the university to serve the alumni or to allow alumni to serve the university? The truth, quite clearly, spans both avenues like a mighty bridge, which is, in the final analysis, what an alumni organization is. "We value the involvement of our alumni and their commitment to the university since they represent a continuing strength to our aspirations as an institution of higher learning," says SUU President Gerald R. Sherratt. I "Wherever they go, whatever their personal or professional pursuits, the alumni reflect SUU and the experience they gained here. The alumni programs of the university have as their foremost objective raising and preserving friends for SUU." It's fairly clear how alumni can serve an institution. Unfortunately for the image of some colleges and universities across America, the first thing that generally comes to mind in regard to alumni is that they have ample stashes of money and are just searching for places to accept that money. The institution that harbors that mistaken notion is more than avaricious, it is perhaps fatally shortsighted. Alumni can offer a great deal more than mere money. Advocacy is perhaps the greatest role an alumnus can play and that advocacy can take many forms. One form might be to strengthen the image of the college or university by example. Another might be to encourage friends and acquaintances to see the institution as a viable place to matriculate. Alumni can take a role in the academic life of the campus, as well, by sharing their experience and wisdom with students through a variety of means, including as guest lecturers and adjunct faculty. Also, of course, the alumni can make its collective presence felt in the governance of the university. At SUU and at many other institutions, a representative of the alumni serves on the governing board. How, though, does the university serve alumni? According to Sherratt, "The university offers activities, educational programs and opportunities for volunteer service to create better understanding between alumni and the university." Moreover, he has said only many occasions, the university has the responsibility of upholding the value of its degree so that its graduates can gain the corollary and continuing benefits of an education here. |