Northwestern University Athletics
Networking Session Highlights Successful Women's Athletic Reunion Weekend
4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | General
April 24, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern recently welcomed its women's athletic alumnae back to campus for the Women's Wildcat Athletic Reunion Weekend. The reunion included a full weekend of events ranging from informal tailgates to an incredibly successful and unique student-athlete/alumnae networking event.
Beginning Friday evening with Northwestern's women's lacrosse contest, Wildcat alumnae took part in tailgates, went on facilities tours and received public recognition at Northwestern's lacrosse and softball games. Saturday night's alumnae banquet featured former women's basketball standout Anucha Browne Sanders as its keynote speaker.
The highlight of the weekend was the student-athlete/alumnae networking event where 200 Northwestern female student-athletes had the opportunity to meet and interact with approximately 40 former Northwestern alumnae in several forums. In the seven-person young alumnae panel, recently graduated Wildcats shared experiences and insight into preparing for the work force while still in college, searching for and finding jobs, going on interviews and other important business practices.
In a speed-networking session, 25 alumnae from a diverse range of fields including health care, business and finance, sports, politics and journalism gave valuable advice and shared experiences with current student-athletes. The event also featured an informal mingling session.
Quotes About the Weekend
"The Alumnae Networking Session was an inspiring event where female student-athletes were really able to learn about the careers and accomplishments of many alumnae. Every current student-athlete I talked to enjoyed the event and was able to take something away from it, whether it was valuable career advice, internship opportunities or contact information. I especially thought the Young Alumnae Panel was informative and engaging. The Networking Session was an overall great experience for both upper classmen and younger student-athletes."
-- Jeanette Lorme, Junior, Women's Soccer
"The Wildcat Women's Athletic Reunion networking session was informative and fun. All of the alumni were helpful and encouraging. As a soon-to-be Northwestern grad, I especially appreciated their enthusiasm and willingness to continue advising me during my first job search and beyond. In the future, I'd love to see the athletic department put together an event in the fall just for the senior class of student-athletes!"
-- Katie Braun, Senior, Women's Swimming
"This past weekend was electric. It was amazing to have nearly 240 women come together -- current, future and former champions sharing ideas on how to be champions at life. It was one of my most gratifying moments of my 10 years at Northwestern."
-- Kate Drohan, Head Softball Coach
"Our vision for this weekend was to unite two incredibly gifted groups of people, our current female student-athletes and our former female student-athletes and Northwestern alumnae, with the goal of establishing networking connections and mentor relationships. The outcome far exceeded our expectations, the event was truly inspiring and rewarding!"
-- Noreen Morris, NU Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman's Administrator
"It was a tremendous weekend and the mentoring session was absolutely incredible. Having such distinguished alums come back and provide guidance will prove to be invaluable for our talented and dedicated student-athletes. As I went through the one-on-one sessions and observed our student-athletes interacting, it reminded me of what makes Northwestern so special."
-- Jim Phillips, NU Director of Athletics and Recreation
"Northwestern accomplished something Saturday that as far as I know never has been done before by any athletic department. We gave all of our women student-athletes what is believed to be the most unique two-hour mentoring session college athletics has ever held. I loved seeing dozens of alums who played sports themselves come back to share their experiences and advice with the student-athletes -- not only on the young alum panel, but also in the speed-networking sessions. To see the room packed with all of Northwestern's women student-athletes and all those mentors was a very proud moment for me."
-- Christine Brennan, USA Today Columnist and recipient of the inaugural Northwestern Athletics Alumna of the Year Award and mastermind of the networking project.
