Alumni Impact

by Keith C. Kerber, Assistant Director of Annual Giving

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all throughout Thunderbird,
Not a student could be seen nor a professor be heard. 
To the ends of the earth they all went in a flash,
No hesitation with three weeks sans class. 

Why bother reading for semester ahead?
While visions of faraway lands danced in their heads.
Why should they spend the time studying in the IBIC,
When diverse and wild cultures await their first visit.

Now Tammy, now Matt, now Nilufar and John!
Go Amit, go Tekena, go Hieu and Karan.
To Kilamanjaro, to Machu Picchu, or to the Great Wall,
Dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!

Practice those languages and cross-cultural skills,
You’ll put them to use for business and school. 
We’ll see you next semester; we trust you’ll return.
Because without you, there would be no Thunderbird.

But don’t stay here forever because we’d rather you go,
Create prosperity all over the globe.
T-birds are all so amazing, there’s no doubt about that
The world needs more Thunderbirds and I’ll drink to that!

In addition to a drink I’m giving a gift to ensure the world has more Thunderbirds? Will you give a gift today? Thank you.

DISCLAIMER: Mr. Kerber claims no poetic brillance.  He states that the inspiration for this blog had a lot to do with three things: 1) Hearing about the anticipated adventures amongst T-bird students; 2) recently listening to his children read two famous Christmas poems: Clement Clarke Moore’s, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and Dr. Seuss’, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas;” and 3) too much holiday cheer (aka spiked egg nog).  But mostly, he says, it has to to with the latter.

by Gbemi Disu ‘06, Assistant Director of Leadership Annual Giving

Joyeuses Fêtes! Felices Fiestas!  Jie Ri Yu Kuai!  Boas Festas!  Tanoshii kurisumasu wo!  Buone Feste!  Hau’oli Lanui!  Ii holide eximnandi!  Forhe Feiertage!  Mutlu Bayramlar!  And of course, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

As I make preparations for my upcoming Singapore and Malaysia trip to spend the holidays with my fellow T-bird alums and friends, I am still filled with travel envy at some of the fantastic holiday locations my other T-birds are jetsetting to this upcoming holidays.  I soon learned that this emotion is a common phenomenon amongst our global community!

In the spirit of friendly competition and vicarious living, we are inviting all alums out there to send us pictures of their holiday vacation from anywhere in the world!  We will be selecting the best of these and highlighting them in a future Alumni E-Newsletter.  We accept pictures of your Thunderspouse, Thunderpet, Thunderbaby and, of course, your Thunderfamily!  Please only send in pictures that are appropriate for a diverse audience and you are comfortable having others see.  Also include a brief description of the location/setting.

As you head out to our respective parts of the world to spend time with family and friends, we here at Thunderbird would like to wish you safe travels and happy holidays!

by Keith C. Kerber, Assistant Director of Annual Giving

The end of my freshman year was coming to a close and so were my dreams to be the first in my family to attend college.  I had already incurred debt of $5,000 in order to attend a private college and just didn’t see how I could afford another year.

A discouraging visit with the Financial Aid officer added to the stress of final exams.  However, a few days later, I returned to her office and she asked if a $3000 grant would allow me to manage the following year.

“Could I ever!” I thought.   She then told me about an alumnus who wanted to give that amount of money to someone exactly in my position: first in family to attend college, working to support himself, involved in the school community, and decent grades, of course.
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by Gbemi Disu ‘06, Assistant Director of Leadership Annual Giving

One would imagine that by now I would be used to the blistering cold winter temperatures of the midwest.  Afterall I lived there for a few years after graduating from Thunderbird.

However, as I nearly get blown into Lake Michigan by the howling wind, I am quickly reminded of why this African (me) moved back west to sunshine AZ!

The only thing that warms my now frozen bones is the warm reception I have received from my favorite group of people in the world – Tbirds!  On this trip, I have connected with alumni from all decades and the ideals that make up the core of our mystique is still present.

I continue to remain a proud alumni and hope you do too.  Here is a toast to our alma mater and receiving warm receptions anywhere in the world!

by Aaron Wilder ‘08, Development Fellow

The Thunderbird Emerging Markets Laboratory (TEM-Lab) is a capstone course to be launched in early 2010 offering students an opportunity to apply the full range of professional skills they have acquired during their studies. TEM-Lab consists of participation in a consulting project for a client organization in an emerging market country anywhere in the world after the completion of the prerequisite Organizational Consulting course. TEM-Lab serves all sectors: governmental, for-profit, and nonprofit.

The Organizational Consulting course (3 academic credits) will include in-classroom discussion and lectures, case analyses, experiential learning events, critical thinking skill-building exercises, and a consultancy practicum. The consulting practicum for this course, conducted on-campus, involves assignments focusing on organizational challenges faced by local, regional, and national organizations.
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by Alicia Sutton ‘09, Program Manager

Current students Dustin Lacey ’10 and Paul Berg ’10 recognized a need to engage Thunderbird students in the “network” as quickly as possible.  Knowing the power of a strong Thunderbird community outside of campus, they looked to build as strong a community on campus.

Their community building efforts took shape in February of 2009 as a mentor program called BirdWatch.  New students have the opportunity to be paired with second and third trimester students.  So far, over 130 mentors are connected to 300 new students.  Mentors and mentees are matched by gender and program.
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Thunderbird Tower project director Will Counts ‘09 and Tower Restoration Club leader Melanie McKinney ‘10 talk about the student initiative to “Save the Tower.” Thunderbird Knowledge Network reporter Darien Carroll ‘09 conducts the interview.

by Gbemi Disu ‘06, Assistant Director, Leadership Annual Giving

I recall my classmates and I chanting these words with gusto the first Friday we arrived on campus.  It was campus crawl and the end of foundations.  We had started and survived our first week together. (August 2004)

Fast forward to May 2006.  We walked proudly across the stage and stared at each other with a feeling of sadness and anticipation of what the world has in store for us.  How we had made and sustained our connection to each other 2 years prior.  We had simulated our way through data analysis, cried our way through Swaps & Options in Finance 3, and finally turned in that final exam that solidified our freedom!  We were T-birds, the world was our oyster!
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by Keith C. Kerber, Assistant Director of Annual Giving

“Are you crazy?  Who will they call at 1:00 in the morning?  Never heard of that one before.”  These were the most common responses from my fundraising colleagues when I asked them for any thoughts on how to manage a 24-hour all-volunteer phonathon.  A month after I came on board the Thunderbird Advancement team - my first full time fundraising job -  I was tasked with managing such an event.  Without one colleague to confirm that it had ever been done before, I began to wonder if we were crazy.

I have since learned that no idea is too crazy for Thunderbirds.  I had the privilege to work with 3 tenacious Tbirds* and together we pulled off a successful 24-hour phonathon.  These students were passionate about one particular thing: The most iconic and storied building on campus, the Tower, was closed due to loss of structural integrity and these students wanted to see it restored.
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Thunderbirds from all over the world gathered Nov. 3-7 in Hong Kong and Macau for the 2009 Thunderbird Global Reunion. During the event, Thunderbird Global Council members met with Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera to help plan the future of the school. Special thanks goes to Hong Kong chapter leader Kevin Rohrer ‘82, who spent months organizing the event and making sure everyone had a good time.