{"id":42171,"date":"2026-05-07T11:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=42171"},"modified":"2026-05-08T10:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:46:38","slug":"magazine-from-the-alumni-office-what-does-it-mean-to-be-truly-engaged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/magazine-from-the-alumni-office-what-does-it-mean-to-be-truly-engaged\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Alumni Office: What does it mean to be truly engaged?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before accepting my\u00a0role, I spent a lot of\u00a0time thinking about\u00a0a deceptively simple question:\u00a0What does meaningful alumni\u00a0engagement look like? Not\u00a0attendance for attendance\u2019s\u00a0sake, but real, lasting\u00a0involvement that strengthens\u00a0both the individual and the\u00a0institution.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Colleges and universities\u00a0with the most vibrant\u00a0alumni communities tend to\u00a0share\u00a0a few defining traits.\u00a0Their alumni\u00a0leverage\u00a0their\u00a0networks \u2013 professionally\u00a0and socially. They play a\u00a0meaningful role in mentoring\u00a0students, offering internships,\u00a0and opening doors to careers.\u00a0They are vocal advocates\u00a0for their alma mater. And\u00a0when alumni feel informed,\u00a0valued and connected to\u00a0the\u00a0student\u00a0experience and\u00a0the broader community,\u00a0they invest \u2013 of their time,\u00a0talent\u00a0and resources \u2013 in the\u00a0programs and scholarships\u00a0that mattered to them and\u00a0align with their values.\u00a0That investment, in turn,\u00a0strengthens the institution\u2019s\u00a0reputation, supports student\u00a0recruitment\u00a0and reinforces a\u00a0virtuous cycle of engagement.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This vision imagines\u00a0a campus\u00a0where\u00a0alumni\u00a0regularly return as guest\u00a0lecturers,\u00a0mentors\u00a0and\u00a0advisors; where students know\u00a0alumni not as distant figures\u00a0but as accessible guides; and\u00a0where regional and\u00a0affinity-based\u00a0alumni communities\u00a0remain\u00a0active and connected\u00a0long after graduation.\u00a0Which led me to ask a\u00a0more personal question:\u00a0What does an ideal engaged\u00a0alumnus\u00a0look like?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to look far. Jim Ney \u201964 offers one\u00a0of the clearest and most\u00a0compelling examples of\u00a0what it means to live out\u00a0Furman\u2019s values long after\u00a0Commencement. Jim passed\u00a0away in 2025, but his 60 years\u00a0of Paladin loyalty stretched\u00a0from the classroom to\u00a0athletics to the world at large\u00a0and back again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Start with\u00a0network. For\u00a0generations of alumni who\u00a0found themselves in Atlanta\u00a0after graduation, Jim was the\u00a0connector. He helped lead the\u00a0Atlanta Business Series, hosted\u00a0alumni gatherings at his home\u00a0and office and made it his\u00a0mission to ensure no Furman\u00a0graduate felt like they were\u00a0navigating\u00a0a new city alone.\u00a0Because of Jim, the Furman\u00a0Atlanta network became\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0remains\u00a0\u2013 one of the\u00a0strongest professional alumni\u00a0communities in the region.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Jim\u2019s engagement\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0stop at\u00a0networking.\u00a0He was deeply committed\u00a0to students and to bringing\u00a0alumni back into the life of\u00a0the campus. He mentored\u00a0countless students, regularly returned as\u00a0a guest speaker\u00a0and famously rallied alumni\u00a0for the \u201cparty bus\u201d that\u00a0traveled from Atlanta to home\u00a0football games each Saturday.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jim also understood the\u00a0importance of leadership and\u00a0advocacy. He served on the\u00a0Alumni Board and the Annual\u00a0Giving Council. He played\u00a0a\u00a0large role\u00a0in Furman\u2019s early\u00a0Mock Trial program, helping\u00a0shape it into what it is today\u00a0and instilling in generations\u00a0of students a passion for the\u00a0legal profession.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Family friends who knew\u00a0the Neys spoke of Jim as one\u00a0of the most upstanding people\u00a0they\u00a0had\u00a0ever\u00a0met. Their\u00a0thinking was simple: If Jim\u00a0Ney went to Furman, that\u00a0was endorsement enough.\u00a0That kind of character and\u00a0reputation\u00a0ripples\u00a0outward\u00a0in ways we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0always\u00a0measure, but it often makes\u00a0all the\u00a0difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Jim invested\u00a0deeply in Furman\u2019s future. He\u00a0did so throughout his life, well\u00a0before his later professional\u00a0success. In addition to his\u00a0service roles,\u00a0he\u00a0and his wife,\u00a0Carol, supported programs\u00a0and scholarships that\u00a0reflected their passions and\u00a0values. His service on the\u00a0Richard Furman Society and\u00a0the Board of Trustees was a\u00a0natural extension of a lifelong\u00a0commitment to giving back\u00a0to the institution that helped\u00a0shape\u00a0him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jim Ney left an indelible\u00a0mark on Furman and on\u00a0everyone\u00a0who knew him. He\u00a0embodied what Furman has\u00a0stood for over two centuries,\u00a0leading a life of purpose,\u00a0service\u00a0and community\u00a0impact. As we celebrate\u00a0our Bicentennial, it feels\u00a0especially fitting to reflect\u00a0on the life of one of Furman\u2019s\u00a0greatest graduates.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni are among the most important parts of any university, but what makes one engaged and how can the institution make that engagement easy for its graduates?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":41573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,3528,1963,3526],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-class-notes-spring-2026","category-furman-magazine","category-spring-2026"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42334,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42171\/revisions\/42334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}