Building bridges, connection at CHaSS Networking Night

Students and alumni gathered for an evening of connection and exploration at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Networking Night. 

Brittney Skye, alumni program coordinator for CHaSS, was in charge of organizing the event and tried to cover as many departments as possible.

“CHaSS is a huge college, and our students are all the way from our ROTC cadets to archaeologists to English teaching students,” Skye said. “The stars don’t always align in that I’m able to bring in an alumni who matches up with every single major in our college, but I do also consider in addition to the alumni what fields they’re working in and what industry they are a part of.”

The event was a great success, according to Skye. Students who RSVP’d were seated with alumni who aligned with their interests, and because the event was only at 80–90% capacity, staff was able to allow walk-ins. 

“Alumni got sick and had to cancel at the last minute,” Skye said. “One had an unexpected work trip come up, but luckily, because I had enough alumni who had a lot of crossover with each other, I was able to just kind of rearrange some of the seating charts.”

Despite having to shuffle alumni and students around last-minute, Skye said people remained in deep discussion even as dessert was served, and mingling was encouraged. 

“They wanted to stay right where they were, which I think is a fantastic sign of a successful alumni-student interaction,” Skye said. 

Skye highlighted how alumni were excited for the event and were eager to talk about their journeys and what they’re passionate about. 

“I think they were more excited when they left than when they arrived because they weren’t really sure how the night was going to go — if you’re going to have a talking table or a silent table,” Skye said. “But everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.”

CHaSS peer advisers volunteered at the event, including anthropology major Sascha Baldauf and political science major McKenzie Campbell.

“It kind of exceeded my expectations,” Baldauf said. “There were question prompts on the table, and the food was a lot better than I was expecting, and it wasn’t as awkward to talk to alumni, which I thought it would be.”

Baldauf and Campbell — along with other CHaSS advising students — arrived an hour early to set up and helped keep the event running smoothly by manning the check-in table, getting students their nametags and directing them to their respective seats. 

“There were a lot more people than I thought there would be,” Campbell said. “I’ve been to this event before, but I felt like it was — it felt like there were more people this time.”

Campbell emphasized how amiable the atmosphere was as alumni and students chatted with each other.   

“I think it was a really nice event,” Campbell said. “I feel like everybody was having a good time.” 

According to Skye, events such as these are important to show students what can be in store for them in the long run, as current students can become overly focused on immediate things such as homework, finals and graduation plans.  

“When I bring back alumni, they’re able to better articulate and breakdown for students that these are the durable skills you’re learning: ‘This thing that you’re doing in your sociology class is super-duper valuable, and you’re going to need to write it on your resume like this,’” Skye said. “They’re able to bring that real-world vocabulary and experience and expertise back up to USU in a way that we really need them to.” 

Skye emphasized the importance of bridging the gap so students can continue to study what they are passionate about while also knowing there is a realistic future for them.  

“Students can keep studying the things they are passionate about — like creative writing, for example — and still know that they’re learning things that are incredibly valuable and marketable and that they’re still going to have a career after graduation,” Skye said.