On a warmer than normal June evening in Washington, DC, just blocks from the White House, more than 100 Bush School alumni gathered for the Dean’s Annual Alumni and Intern Reception. Speaking to the crowd, Dean Mark Welsh updated DC area alumni with news from the Bush School and plans for the future. After his comments, he took questions from the audience.
Though Welsh touched on a wide range of topics, the remarks primarily focused on the School’s plans for aggressive, but managed, growth as well as increasing alumni outreach by cultivating even more support from graduates.
“I love to hear the update from the Dean,” 2014 graduate Robby Smith said. “It’s a great way to see the School grow, change, and progress and feel like part of the progress. The comments about future growth were exciting as well as some of the planning and intentional care that is coming for the alumni network and former students. I think we’re all eagerly anticipating feeling more support from and connectedness to the School.”
For alumni in the nation’s capital, the reception doubles as an opportunity to catch up with friends and talk about their careers and personal lives.
“It’s great to see old classmates and meet new, younger generations of former students,” Smith said. “It is truly a highlight of the summer that brings a little bit of the Spirit of Aggieland to my life in DC. The DC Aggie family is strong—and fostering a tighter network of Bush School graduates specifically is a goal of most of us here in DC. We try to rendezvous when there is a capstone presentation or a professor in town, but sometimes coordinating us all is a bit challenging when so many of us are still proving ourselves in the early parts of our careers.”
Outside of Texas, there are more Bush School graduates in Washington, DC, than any other city in the country, and fostering a thriving community of former students has become a priority for both alumni and Bush School administrators.
“Public service as a noble calling has always been the driving mantra of the Bush School, so I think that’s why we have so many of our graduates working for both the government and non-profit organizations in Washington; DC,” Assistant Dean Matt Upton said. “Embracing that community of alumni and working with them to strengthen the network up there is absolutely a priority.”
