Bringing Us Back Home

Fellow Alumni,

Yesterday I met with Darren Swain, Assistant VP of Alumni Relations, and simply put, I AM VERY EXCITED. For the first time since I graduated from Bowie I felt like I was at home and not a visitor. I don’t know about you but going back to Bowie was like going back to your parent’s house after you had moved out and the locks were changed and your bedroom had been turned into a den or storage space. This Administration and Darren have made it a MAJOR priority to bring its most valuable resource, the Alumni, back home. They are in the process of creating an alumni lounge where we can congregate when we are on campus. The Goodlowe House, which I will talk about some other time, will house the alumni offices and will be a place that we can call our own. They are implementing “best practices” in alumni relations used throughout other colleges and universities to ensure that our interaction with Bowie is second to none and a pleasant experience.

Darren Swain for those of you who don’t know is a former BSU Student Government Association President and former member of the Maryland State Legislature. He is a very successful fundraiser and organizer of people and knows how to motivate groups and individuals. He is an “Out-Of-The-Box” thinker. I say that to say he understands that his success is our success. He is going to need, AND BELIEVE ME, HE WILL BE ASKING for your financial support. But more important he is going to be asking for your ideas, feedback, BSU email list and Rolodex, energy and how he can HELP you. He wants us to look at Bowie not as a place that helped us to get where we are, but a resource to help us to get to where we are going. A resource that will help us to reach our goals and to grow our businesses. He wants us to look at him, his office, Bowie and other Alumni (those you know and don’t know) as an additional resource in your endeavors. He believes your success is Bowie’s success.

For too long we have had to take a back seat to Morehouse, Spellman, Howard, Hampton and other HBCU’s. We have never gotten the exposure, attention and credit we deserve from the HBCU Community, media and mainstream America. It still burns me up when I see reruns of The Cosby Show with Bill Cosby wearing a Morehouse or Hampton shirt. Why not a Bowie shirt? Why doesn’t he, Oprah or our other Black celebrity philanthropist make that multi-million dollar gift to Bowie State instead of Spellman? Bowie is located in Prince George’s County, the most affluent and educated African-America community in the world. Bowie is located next to the Nation’s Capital and the federal government including some of the leading research agencies such as NASA and NOAA. Bowie is one of the few organizations (academic and non-academic) in the world with a super computer. Bowie is surrounded by some of the leading arts institutions in the world including The Smithsonian. Bowie is located within minutes from the headquarters of many of the world’s largest Non-Profit Organizations. And unlike Howard, Morgan or Coppin State, Bowie is not land locked and has the ability to expand in ways few universities (Black or White) can. In other words Bowie State University has always been positioned to be GREAT!

Keep in mind that it wasn’t that long ago that a professor at Stanford University convinced two young alumni named Hewlett and Packard to stay on the west coast instead of heading back east where all the action was. Those alumni and their Alma Mata transformed what was known as wine country to what we know today as Silicon Valley, home of other companies started by Stanford alumni including Intel, Yahoo and Google. I know Darren Swain and Darren Swain is a “Sky Is the Limit” type of guy. With his leadership, this Administration and our support I strongly believe that Bowie State University can become the Black Stanford U. STAY TUNED OUR TIME HAS COME! Sorry Howard, Hampton, Morehouse, etc.

Ervin Reid,
BSU Class of 1981

PS. On Saturday, August 23rd, the Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Delta Mu Chapter will be hosting an event for all BSU Alumni. Please save the date and pass this email on. Additional information will follow soon.