Penn connects with young alumni

For young alumni who wish to stay connected to the Penn community after graduation, the Penn Traditions program plans to foster stronger ties between Penn and its recent undergraduate alumni.

The new initiative, called yPenn, will feature events and leadership opportunities around the world so that young alumni will “feel a connection wherever they land,” Lex Ruby Howe, assistant director of Penn Traditions and Young Alumni Programming, said.

Since October, yPenn has been hosting events around the world, bringing together young alumni to showcase that Penn can be and still is a part of their young adult lives.

Alumni Relations will officially launch yPenn for graduating seniors this spring, after the traditional “final toast” during Hey Day, Howe said.

“We’re trying to fill the gap that used to exist,” Howe said. “Formerly, when students were graduating, they saw graduation as the end of their Penn experience until their class reunions — yPenn fills that gap.”

While Howe recognized that an increasing number of alumni opt to live abroad after graduation, next year’s events will be hosted in traditional hubs for those fresh out of college such as New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia as well as London and Paris.

Jay Raghavan, 2010 College and Engineering graduate, currently lives in New York. While he thinks yPenn is a great initiative, he said there might not be much value for an alumnus like him.

“I have so many friends here that I don’t feel disconnected from the Penn community at all,” Raghavan said.

However, he noted that this sentiment might be exclusive to New York since it attracts large numbers of alumni each year.

Last month, New York’s yPenn event drew 512 attendees, whereas the event in Paris only attracted about 80.

For high-density locations like New York, Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Fredrick Wampler said yPenn aims to go beyond “the autopilot” approach of traditional alumni outreach programs.

“We want to offer programs and services that you don’t normally get,” Wampler said. He suggested that panels on “how to get the ideal apartment” or “how to get your kids into private school” might fit the niches of people’s lives more concretely.

Students are already expressing interest.

For College senior Poorvi Kunzru, a program like yPenn reinforces the idea “that Penn does still care” after her four-year education.

And for College senior Aditi Marisetti, alumni programming like yPenn is important because she will not be in cities with large numbers of Penn alumni after she graduates. She is currently considering moving to Toronto.

While yPenn does not aim to create a “conversation of monetary exchange” between the school and young alumni, Howe admits that from a strategic standpoint, if a young alumnus can be made to feel more connected, there is a good chance of financial return.

The main idea, Wampler said, is to create a “cultural change.”

“We want to create cultural engagement as soon as students steps off campus,” he said. “If they keep coming to events, coming back to campus … every year, that will just be the way it is.”

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