For Kyla Seaberry Gordon '07, re-visiting UD is an opportunity to see friends and relive old memories; it is also a return home, and as the co-chair of the Black Alumni Weekend Committee, she wants as many alumni as possible to feel the same way.
“I met a lot of amazing people at UD; long-lasting friends who I'm still connected with to this day,” Gordon said.
As a volunteer, Gordon has helped UD meet its engagement goal of 2,800 Flyers who are volunteering in roles that attract and uplift students, support and engage fellow alumni, and help advise and lead the University. Now in the final year of the We Soar campaign, UD is continuing to energize new volunteers.
Often, a decision to give back to UD through time and talent is rooted in an experience. For Gordon, it’s four years of experiences — and counting.
She first visited UD during a visit weekend for prospective African American students, which started her educational career on the right foot. She is still in contact with the friends she made that weekend and has gone to their weddings and baby showers.
As Gordon pursued her bachelor’s degree in electronic media, she played flute and did color guard with the Pride of Dayton Marching Band, sang with Ebony Heritage Singers, participated in Black Action Through Unity, served as registration chair of Colors of Leadership Conference, worked as a resident assistant, was in an R&B band that opened for recording artist Monica during a Flyer Radio-produced show, and worked on Holla TV, a sketch comedy show.
Her second year, Gordon was initiated into the Delta Sigma chapter Sigma Alpha Iota, the International Music Fraternity for women and non-binary people at UD. She took a year off from SAI during her senior year but became reaffiliated while pursuing her master’s in community counseling because she realized her desire for stronger sisterly bonds. She reactivated her membership, became the fraternity’s president and held the sisterhood as one of the finest components of her years in graduate school.
“I was extremely grateful to the sisters I met once I came back,” she said. “[It] was the sisterhood that I was looking for.”
The Delta Sigma chapter earned the province of the year award during her presidential term. She gained additional leadership experience as a resident coordinator during those graduate school years.
“I learned not only about myself but what I am capable of.”
“I learned not only about myself but what I am capable of,” said Gordon, who also earned a master’s in clinical mental health counseling from UD in 2012. “I learned just how to navigate amongst different people and just how to be a good leader and servant.”
Gordon attended her first Black Alumni Weekend in 2008 and joined the Black Alumni Executive Committee in 2018. From the meet-and-greet to the final banquet, she said she loved attending the event to reconnect with old friends, remember friends who have passed on, network with undergraduate students and further understand President Eric F. Spina’s vision for UD.
“To see his involvement has been incredible because to me it seems like we’re receiving support from the University,” she said.
Gordon’s co-chair is Destiny Watson ’20, whom Gordon met and immediately bonded with in the Black Alumni Executive Committee. The two women, both Chicagoans, are currently studying how other universities host their Black Alumni Weekends and are using social media to engage as many alumni as possible. They attribute social media marketing to this year’s record attendance, with more than 400 Black Alumni Weekend attendees.
“I’m happy and excited to continue my involvement,” she said. “I just wanted to give back to a university that has helped me so much.”
photos courtesy Kyla Gordon