Posted by Douglas Fisher on Friday, March 27, 2015 in News.

The last day of class is just 3 weeks away, and in a year of firsts, Warren and Moore Colleges will each have their first alums a short time later!

I hope that Warren College alums will continue to talk with us, through our Warren and College Halls Facebook groups, through other digital connections that we make pervasive and natural, and through in-person visits. Our community is so young, that alums can substantially influence what Warren becomes. Indeed, Warren’s relationship with its alums could become one of its distinctive and definitional characteristics, at Vanderbilt, and any where else for that matter.

I have been looking for ways of engaging with Vanderbilt alums in my teaching, through mechanisms of digital learning. So, its natural that I would look for ways of engaging with Warren alums.

Whether you will be an alum or a student of Warren next year, lets talk about ways that Warren (and Moore) alums can and will continue as part of our nascent community. For example, if Warren establishes a seminar series, for credit or not, can alums participate remotely through video-conferencing, bringing with them the benefit of their experience? Can alums routinely speak with current students, perhaps by “skyping” into Sunday faculty apartment dinners or fireside chats, perhaps to talk with faculty they didn’t have the opportunity or inclination to engage deeply with while here? Perhaps Warren alums can have Warren “office hours” once or twice a year, and/or sit for an interview with the Warren newsletter.

Some may think only students who have been here 2-3 upperclass years will develop a bond with Warren strong enough to stay engaged after graduation, but I can name current seniors who I am sure will remain engaged if encouraged and welcomed to do so.

So, lets look for programs that will engage Warren and Moore students and alums — and if any of you seniors want to take database or artificial intelligence later on, after graduation, let me know — we can work something out.

“[A]nd soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, …” ― Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men