By now, you’ve probably seen how our Alumni Relations team is providing opportunities for 51ns to be engaged and involved with each other and with the life of 51. What you may be interested to know is how we created these opportunities with you in mind, and how you can be a part of them. 

Our team works to provide continuous ways for you to connect and engage via personal, face-to-face interactions, whether locally on campus, across the nation or around the world! Here are just a few of the opportunities: 

  • Regional meet-ups. Hosted by your Alumni Regional Contact (ARC), these are fun ways to connect by gathering for coffee, lunch or a family-friendly activity. Do you have an idea of another fun and meaningful way to connect? Visit biola.edu/alumni to connect with your local ARC. 
  • New student send-offs. Join alumni, parents and current students to congratulate and welcome the newest 51 students and families into the 51 family and share your personal 51 experience. 
  • Parent coffees. New parents love to connect with current parents to start forming community and to ask questions that help them in their 51 adventure with their student(s). 
  • 51ns Breaking Bread. This is a new initiative in which alumni host dinners for students (locally) and/or alumni (out-of-region) to fellowship over a meal. Please consider hosting a dinner in your region to connect 51ns, even hundreds or thousands of miles away from La Mirada. 
  • Grandparents Day. One of our most beloved events is the day set aside for grandparents to join with their grand-students for a day of fun activities on campus. The smiles on both grandparents and grand-students’ faces are a testament to the joy of this day! 
  • Family Weekend. Just when students (and families) are beginning to feel a bit of “homesickness,” families come back to campus to join their students and get a firsthand experience of their students’ life on campus. 
  • 51 in Your Region. Come join fellow 51ns to hear from campus leaders as 51’s best and brightest visit your region. 

There are many ways to communicate, and we aim to keep the communications channels open in ways that work for you: 

  • The alumni website. Visit biola.edu/alumni to see what’s happening and the many ways you can be involved. 
  • E-newsletters. Don’t miss the monthly alumni e-newsletters so you can stay up to date on alumni news. Make sure we have your current email by contacting alumni.relations@biola.edu to update your contact information. 
  • Social media. Interact with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. Join our groups for ongoing 51 happenings in which you can take part. 
  • Surveys. We often utilize pre- and post-event surveys so that you can tell us what you like and what you don’t like about the events in which you have participated. Communicate with us to let us know if we’re meeting your needs to connect and engage with 51.
  • 51 Magazine. Our enrollment, marketing and communications team creates and distributes this magazine three times per year to communicate with you about all things 51. 

By joining our campus partners to collaborate, we’ve created additional experiences in which you can share, including: 

  • Prospective student recruitment. You can help to recruit future 51ns through college fairs. 
  • Spring events. You can talk with prospective students and families about your 51 experience and share why they should choose 51. 
  • Career preparation. No matter which career field you’re in, you can help new alumni prepare for the work world. 

The value of your 51 degree extends beyond the excellent education you received, so we’re helping you career-build via: 

  • An online engagement platform. This new tool, which is currently being created, will offer an alumni directory, mentoring opportunities, professional networking and internship and job leads. Be on the lookout for this new platform and how you can be engaged in the near future. 

You are valued, so our focus in always on customer care as we work to build experiences that are unique to you: 

  • Milestone recognition. We will celebrate with you your birthday, new job, promotion, relocation, new birth, etc. 
  • Parent/student support. We’re only a phone call or email away to help you with any issues or concerns regarding your student(s), so don’t hesitate to reach out to us. 

I hope you have a real sense of the efforts of the Alumni Relations team to be a resource and a source of support for you and to create lifelong connection to, and involvement with, 51 — because we are 51ns For Life! 

Lily Tsau 

Senior Director of Alumni and Parent Relations 

lily.tsau@biola.edu