AHOME OF YOUR OWN ON CAMPUS

Center of Attention

ou used to walk around campus like you owned the place. As a student, every edifice was designed for your use and enjoyment. But graduating from the University doesn’t mean you should feel like you no r belong here.

“We surveyed our alumni and found out that when they came back to campus, they didn’t know where to start,” says Donna Arbide, assistant vice president for Alumni Relations. “We need a physical presence here at the University that serves alumni and makes themfeel welcome.”

The solution would be a 68,000-square-foot alumni center on the Coral Gables campus to greet alumni, hold the history of the University, and increasestudent awareness of the Alumni Association. Sucha center has been on the association agenda for more than 15 years, and a strategic planning session four years ago helped prioritize theinitiative.

“The thing that came up in every task force was the lack of visibility of the Alumni Association at this University,” Arbide recalls.

Estimated at $14.5 million, the alumni center would be a four-story, multipurpose building that houses the offices of Alumni Relations, University Advancement, and University Communications. A grand lobby on the first floor would segue to lounge areas, meeting spaces, a business center, a library with memorabilia and alumni-authored publications, anda café. Murals depicting University history would adorn the walls. Outside,the Hurricane Plaza andgardens would be the perfect venue for open-air events and celebrations.

Groundbreaking is expected to occur within the next few years. In addition to seeking lead gifts, thoseof $1 million or more, the University will launch a “brick and tile campaign” to give all alumni a chance to leave their mark. Bricks will carry names, and tiles will carry more detailed personal information, maybe even alumni pictures. “We want to tell the story of the alumni who are a part of this,” Arbide explains.

A proposed location on San Amaro Drive—on the perimeter rather than in the heart of campus—allows for adequate parking, and being in the vicinity of the forthcoming University Village apartments may help fortify student outreach. “We have a very distinguished body of alumni. We really try to connect our students to them,” Arbide says.

Since its founding in 1930, the University of Miami Alumni Association has endeavored to engage all alumni. But it’s a difficult task when the Alumni House on Brescia Avenue near Red Road is “busting at the seams” and more than one closet has been reconfigured into a workspace.

“There’s definitely acorrelation between alumni participation and havingan alumni center,” Arbide says. “There are 134,000 alumni who have livedsome of the most important years of their lives here.Our goal is to make all 134,000 feel like they are important to the University. And they are.”

Back to Top

Rewarding Alumni Service

ore than just an academic institution, the University of Miami is a community of intelligent, inquisitive people united by a sense of pride and common drive to succeed. The mission of the Alumni Association Board of Directors is to extend the positive energy and team spirit beyond campus boundaries, ensuring that students, parents, and alumni alike contribute to the strength of the University. The Alumni Association is proud of the group charged with this task for the 2002-2003 academic year, led by the executive committee officers.

President of the UMAA Board of Directors is Hunting F. Deutsch (M.B.A. ’82), who recently returned to Miami after several years as CEO of SunTrust Banks of Florida, Inc., headquartered in Orlando. Deutsch participates in the Mentor Program at the School of Business Administration, where he shares his corporate knowledge with students. A model for volunteerism, he is the 2001 recipient of the UMAA William R. Butler Community Service Award.

Immediate past president, Gino L. Torretta (B.B.A. ’91), knows the power of teamwork. The former Heisman Trophy winner, who led the Hurricanes to two national championship games in the early 1990s, has spent the last year implementing innovative UMAA programs. Following a four-season run in the NFL, Torretta joined Prudential Securities, where he is a financial advisor.

Board vice presidents are five prominent business and civic role models: John E. Calles (A.B. ’89, J.D. ’92), Gregory M. Cesarano (J.D. ’76), Ernesto D’Escoubet (B.S.E.E. ’65, M.S.E.E. ’70), Denise Mincey-Mills (B.B.A. ’80), and Jacqueline Nespral (A.B. ’89).

Calles is manager of the Miami agency of Union Central, one of the largest mutual insurance companies in the country.

Cesarano is a shareholder in the Miami office of Carlton Fields, a firm of 200 lawyers and offices throughout Florida. He specializes in civil trials and business litigation.

D’Escoubet is senior vice president and chief technology officer of Fairchild Semiconductor, a global, publicly traded company in Portland, Maine, that manufactures semiconductors for use in various industries.

Mincey-Mills is vice president of community affairs in Florida for Turner Construction Company, contractor for the Wellness Center and the new Convocation Center at the University of Miami, among a nationwide project portfolio worth $6 billion a year. Recipient of the 2001 President’s Award of the National Association of Women Business Owners in Miami, she helps educate and find opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses in the construction industry.

Nespral is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and news anchor. Selected in 1991 to host NBC’s Weekend Today show and as a fill-in for Katie Couric on the weekday slot, Nespral became the first Hispanic network news anchor. Now at NBC6 in Miami, she anchors the 5:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.

The focus for the UMAA executive committee this year, says Deutsch, is on “building connections to our alma mater, increasing participation in the annual fund, and providing value-added services and benefits.”

Back to Top

Moise Takes the Lead

hortly after returning from Washington, D.C., where he testified before the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee on the political situation in Haiti, Rudolph Moise, M.B.A. ’94, J.D. ’97, was inaugurated as president of the University of Miami Alumni Association. UMAA president-elect Gregory M. Cesarano, J.D. ’76, is successor to Moise, a Haitian-American physician, attorney, entrepreneur, and U.S. Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel. Cesarano is a shareholder in the Miami office of Carlton Fields, where he specializes in civil trials and business litigation, representing product manufacturers, insurers, and property owners.

Back to Top

The Next Generation

our parents had an incredible experience here,” Jim Sullivan explains to a University of Miami legacy applicant. “But the reality is you have to decide what’s best for you.”

Sullivan is senior associate director of admission and head of the University’s Legacy Admission program, which delivers personal service to children and grandchildren of alumni throughout the admission process. When legacy applicants register online at www.miami.edu/legacy, they receive a password for access to a special Web site with information on programs and interview opportunities. Sullivan is on-hand to answer their questions and arrange interviews or visits with schools and colleges, and he personally presents each legacy application to the admissions committee. “If alumni bring their sons and daughters here, it’s because they have a special vibe about the place,” he says.

The Web site, active since September 2002, averages about 50 registrations per month. Alumni often are very enthusiastic about the prospect of their children following in their footsteps, but Sullivan helps ensure the fit is a good one. He educates parents on the growing academic stature of the University and encourages all applicants to apply Early Decision, “the biggest bang for your alumni connection,” if UM is their top choice. Applications have doubled in the past ten years, reaching 16,800 this year for a freshman class of 2,000.

“He was a thousand percent sure he wanted to come here,” Fran Sevcik, A.B. ’75, says of her son, Ryan, who applied Early Decision through Legacy Admission.

“Talking to Jim was one of the easiest parts of the process,” Ryan explains.“He showed me how many different possible majors there are here.”

“At the heart of what we do is counseling,” Sullivan says. “We want to make sure students are going to be happy and successful.”

Back to Top

Back to Top