Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

By Sharon D. White ’78, Alumni Association president

When I was asked to serve as president of the University of Dayton Alumni Association Board of Directors, I thought of my father. He was a proud alum and this University is a part of his legacy. My appointment represented an opportunity to keep his spirit alive while supporting the University’s mission, what it stands for and our Marianist values.

One reason I am proud of UD is our commitment to transparency. President Eric F. Spina and our leadership team are open and honest. Your alumni association is following suit by providing me the opportunity to communicate through this blog, which is another vehicle to enhance our communication with you.  

We want you to be aware of what we are doing and will share ideas with you. We want your feedback as well. This is two-way communication. That is how we grow and improve. Feel free to share your story. It will foster an even better relationship between you and the University of Dayton. As a communication professional with Premier Health, I value the importance of such interaction.

As I embark on my tenure as our alumni association president, I plan to build on the work of my predecessors. During my time on the board, the alumni association has been blessed with the fine leadership of Ray Blakeney’93 and Jen Weed’95. They both share an outstanding trait of making everyone feel engaged while moving the association and University forward. As a result of Ray and Jen’s work, we continue to enjoy outstanding engagement and communication with our entire alumni population. I particularly appreciated their passion for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Their work shaped a strong foundation and I want to continue to develop that. Moving forward, my vision for our growth is:

• Expand our outreach by encouraging even more alumni to become active. Our board will strive to figure out why some alums are not engaged.
• Visit with our alumni to share the fine work being done on campus that demonstrates the University’s commitment to community.
• Collaborate with UD administration and staff so we are all speaking with one voice in support of our mission and vision.

I will also add that we will not forget our recent graduates. We want to do what we can to make their transition into the job force smooth and easy.

As I stated earlier, my relationship with UD has roots back to my father, in addition to my days as a cheerleader. I even married my husband, Don, during a basketball game in 2022 at UD Arena! So, I am thrilled about this opportunity to make an impact.

This year is going to be particularly exciting as the University concludes a historic $400 million campaign, that is inspiring loyalty and engagement, in support of our students and their futures. My motto has always been, “Go big or go home.” I cannot wait to see what else we can do to help our University soar!