One of the key relationships at any college is with students. That’s why a group of supporters connected to San Diego City College have been devoting themselves to keeping it going, even after students have graduated, transferred, or left campus.

With the inaugural Alumni Mixer, held on a mild May night just before Memorial Day, the San Diego City College Foundation took a major step toward making that vision a reality.

The mixer, with the theme of “City Lights the Way,” was held at the A Building Patio with 130 people in attendance. Honorees mingled with current students, some of whom had won prestigious scholarships, and for Gerald Ramsey, the foundation’s chair, seeing the groups together underscored how vital it is to connect the past to the present.

“It’s most important that they become role models for those students that are at City in the current day, so they see that people that have been here care about them and care about the school and that it was a valuable experience for them,” said Ramsey, also a retired City College administrator.

More than 20 City College advocates were honored at the Alumni Mixer, including both former students and current staff. Among the group were veterans, retirees, and former athletes, along with a business or industry – Solar Turbines in San Diego – that has shown support for both students and alums.

Like many special events, City College’s inaugural Alumni Mixer had to be put on hold due to the pandemic, but Arthi Selvaraj, the Foundation development coordinator who planned the mixer, had a number of goals in mind.

She aimed for a “little more upscale and elegant” tone and she didn’t just want to entertain the alumni. For instance, she worked with DJ Birdy Bird – Isaac Sims from Southeast San Diego – who brought a photo booth set up with the perfect backdrop, the sun setting over downtown San Diego. The scene was lovely, but so was campus, and she wanted to re-introduce alums to City College.

That’s because the area around the A Building has been transformed in recent years following extensive renovations and upgrades. Giving alumni the chance to see the changes, she said, helped to establish a renewed relationship with them, while also “keeping them connected with what’s going on on the campus.”

“We’re aiming to have a more active form of communication with them in the future, so this is our first step to getting there,” Selvaraj said.

The Foundation continues to work on the database to contact former students, while also creating a strategic plan. With the hopes of having everything up and running by the end of next year, Ramsey called the future for City College’s alumni relations “so promising and so bright.”

But the story of City College, he concludes, “has to be told by the people who created the story.”

“We think that’s the most powerful way to send that message out,” he said. “We have to let people know that their story is important to the college and the students who are following behind them.”

Photos from the event can be viewed here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzTEJ3

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Established in 1914, San Diego City College serves as the educational cornerstone of downtown San Diego. A 60-acre urban campus, City College serves more than 16,000 students, offering 200 majors and degrees and 1,800 classes. City College is part of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), the second-largest of California’s 72 community college districts, which also includes Mesa College, Miramar College, and Continuing Education. For more information, visit www.sdcity.edu.

Contact: Cesar Gumapas, Information Officer at 619-388-3911 or cgumapas@sdccd.edu