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- Jul 25, 2009
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Recently on a thread on a topic about what some view as an issue at Kings Point I noted the following two statements which I've excerpted here:
"This can impact how the alum view the school when they graduate and therefore not feel inclined to be supportive. "
"I totally agree with you about the possibilities of Alums not wanting to contribute financially if the same ridiculousness, to put it politely, hasn't changed. ..."
For the past several years I've heard these sorts of things and they are not new. Indeed a group of people think that the reason one class - The USMMA Class of 1974 - have some of the worst historical numbers for donating to their Alma Mater is because of the fact they had a rough time due to early graduation to supply grads for the Vietnam War. This despite one of their number is a former Maritime Administrator.
Me, I'm a grad, as well as a parent of a current midshipman, and I find this entire reaction and argument ludicrous. My feeling and bottom line, which I've put forth on this forum before is simple and straight forward. Every USMMA grad has some good and some bad memories. None of them should deter us from helping others have similar or better opportunities than the ones given to us by the Alumni who came before us. There are numerous things that Alumni giving supports and that support is needed for those activities to be continued be they the Waterfront, Athletics, or other things the Government cannot or otherwise does not fund.
I believe all these sorts of excuses for not giving that tie back to "KPS sort of stuff" - of which I think are three things:
1) Hypocritical - if it was that horrible while you were there why didn't you quit and do something else with your valuable time?
2) Selfish - especially if while you were at the USMMA, some sort of thing like Sailing or Football was what kept you sane and helped you get through the challenge, since that activity wasn't then and isn't now fully supported by the Government and was instead something made available to you through the generosity of donors.
3) Rationalization - why don't USMMA grads donate more to their alma maters? - you know say at the same sort of average annual donation per year that donors to their Alma Maters at the USNA, USMA, USAFA, or USCGA give? I'll say it here - we Kings Pointers are conservative in most things and when it comes to our own wallets and taking money out of it, at best we are conservative and at worst we are cheap. So we use things like these excuses to rationalize and justify our behavior.
Linking things like having a tough or even unfair professor or two to low annual giving rates just makes no sense to me. I've said it before and I'll say it again - we all, myself included, should donate more to our Alma Mater. I'm pleased to see guys like Bob Burke and others stepping up and saying that to us, as well as "walking the walk." As for parents of current midshipmen, myself included, we should also donate more if we can afford to do so as well. However, as parents of midshipmen, we need to step back and let the USMMA be properly run and while I sympathize with my own DS about his own current challenges with Economics, I don't think I can OR SHOULD do anything else beside provide moral support. He's now been around the world - literally - and is basically a young adult so has to take responsibility for his own actions and accomplishments. If that means he has to read 25 pages a night, then that's what he'll have to figure out how to do - after all it's not high school. Even Ivy League Universities are known to have some tenured professors who are "horrible" etc.
Okay now folks can and I'm sure will decry many if not all aspects of my comments here as "tough love" often doesn't seem to be appreciated here but that's okay I don't plan on running for office in the USMMA Parents - Teachers Association any time soon.
"This can impact how the alum view the school when they graduate and therefore not feel inclined to be supportive. "
"I totally agree with you about the possibilities of Alums not wanting to contribute financially if the same ridiculousness, to put it politely, hasn't changed. ..."
For the past several years I've heard these sorts of things and they are not new. Indeed a group of people think that the reason one class - The USMMA Class of 1974 - have some of the worst historical numbers for donating to their Alma Mater is because of the fact they had a rough time due to early graduation to supply grads for the Vietnam War. This despite one of their number is a former Maritime Administrator.
Me, I'm a grad, as well as a parent of a current midshipman, and I find this entire reaction and argument ludicrous. My feeling and bottom line, which I've put forth on this forum before is simple and straight forward. Every USMMA grad has some good and some bad memories. None of them should deter us from helping others have similar or better opportunities than the ones given to us by the Alumni who came before us. There are numerous things that Alumni giving supports and that support is needed for those activities to be continued be they the Waterfront, Athletics, or other things the Government cannot or otherwise does not fund.
I believe all these sorts of excuses for not giving that tie back to "KPS sort of stuff" - of which I think are three things:
1) Hypocritical - if it was that horrible while you were there why didn't you quit and do something else with your valuable time?
2) Selfish - especially if while you were at the USMMA, some sort of thing like Sailing or Football was what kept you sane and helped you get through the challenge, since that activity wasn't then and isn't now fully supported by the Government and was instead something made available to you through the generosity of donors.
3) Rationalization - why don't USMMA grads donate more to their alma maters? - you know say at the same sort of average annual donation per year that donors to their Alma Maters at the USNA, USMA, USAFA, or USCGA give? I'll say it here - we Kings Pointers are conservative in most things and when it comes to our own wallets and taking money out of it, at best we are conservative and at worst we are cheap. So we use things like these excuses to rationalize and justify our behavior.
Linking things like having a tough or even unfair professor or two to low annual giving rates just makes no sense to me. I've said it before and I'll say it again - we all, myself included, should donate more to our Alma Mater. I'm pleased to see guys like Bob Burke and others stepping up and saying that to us, as well as "walking the walk." As for parents of current midshipmen, myself included, we should also donate more if we can afford to do so as well. However, as parents of midshipmen, we need to step back and let the USMMA be properly run and while I sympathize with my own DS about his own current challenges with Economics, I don't think I can OR SHOULD do anything else beside provide moral support. He's now been around the world - literally - and is basically a young adult so has to take responsibility for his own actions and accomplishments. If that means he has to read 25 pages a night, then that's what he'll have to figure out how to do - after all it's not high school. Even Ivy League Universities are known to have some tenured professors who are "horrible" etc.
Okay now folks can and I'm sure will decry many if not all aspects of my comments here as "tough love" often doesn't seem to be appreciated here but that's okay I don't plan on running for office in the USMMA Parents - Teachers Association any time soon.
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