res liFe Using Alumni to Energize Community By Alexa Sibberson Residence hall programs rely on alumni to bring energy and life experience to the community. Holy Cross alumni (pictured here and on the next page) assist student and staff crews working hard on move-in day. One of the essential benefits of pursuing a higher education is the community that colleges and universities can provide, not only during schooling years, but well beyond. The community fostered during a student’s college years is not only something that can be positively influenced by the effective presence of alumni, but also something students have the power to maintain when they gain alumni status themselves. Many colleges and universities make alumni readily available as resources to current students, other alumni, and institutional programs, considering them to be in a unique position to interact with current students and provide them with knowledge gained by experience and a sense of continued community pride. Residence halls and their programs are some of the first ways students are able to acclimate themselves to a specific institution’s value system and community life – something that, if done correctly, can benefit them for the rest of their lives. One way the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor ensures the 16 talking stick