Atlanta Alumni Club - About
About
Our club strives to provide a welcoming platform for graduates and friends of Ohio State in the Atlanta area.
Come enjoy fellowship with one another while celebrating, serving, and raising the profile of Ohio State University in a positive way within our community. We are proud of the academic and athletic excellence that Ohio State represents, and whether through scholarship fundraising, community philanthropy, or simply cheering on the Buckeyes, we let that pride shine through.
For many, Ohio State is about friendships. Please join us and be a firm friend of the Scarlet and Gray. And remember, as a great man once said, “Atlanta Buckeyes are the best!”
A word from our Club President
It’s an exciting time to be a Buckeye! The flagship university of Ohio has never been stronger. In a process that is now close to twenty years old, the Office of Admissions continues to raise and refine the academic profile of the student body at Ohio State, and we are now competitive for the very best students across the country. We have the most highly visible and visionary university president at any institution (public or private) and our campus renovations of William Oxley Thompson Library and the fantastic new Ohio Union are undeniable signs that Ohio State is on the move.
So where does the Ohio State Alumni Club of Atlanta fit in the picture? Part of our purpose is plainly social, and we will always provide the best atmosphere for watching the Buckeyes of any place outside of Ohio Stadium. But I am confident that our greater mission is to serve and support the university we all love. Our highest and best work is in scholarship, recruiting, and philanthropy. These principles were best expressed when, on March 14, 1986, Wayne Woodrow Hayes delivered the commencement address to the graduating students at Ohio State. He chose to echo a sentiment he had spoken about many times before: “I would like to start out with something that I use in almost every speech, and that is the idea of paying forward. . . . Take that attitude toward life, because so seldom can we pay back. Those whom you owe – your parents and other people – will be gone. . . . But you can always pay forward, and you must pay line for line, deed for deed, and cent for cent.”
Few ideas are more central to the purpose of an alumni club than Coach Hayes’ famous “paying forward” notion. We all owe so much – to our families, to our communities, and especially to the university we all love. We need to pay forward with our time and our effort and our resources, and we must do this to guarantee that future generations of students will enjoy the experiences that bind Buckeyes together and will be just as proud as we are to be a part of the Ohio State community. The Ohio State Alumni Club of Atlanta has that opportunity every day. We can make a difference. We just have to decide how we want to go about it, and then commit to following through. As the new president, I have a vision and a sense of purpose for our club but I need your help to hammer it into a plan. So please, let me hear from you and share your ideas on what the club could be doing to benefit Ohio State, our community here in Atlanta, or our members generally. I look forward to talking with each of you in the coming months.