When KSU alumnus Grey Drummonds wanted to meet other recent graduates, he made it a do-it-yourself project that now connects more than 2,000 Forever Owls.
Oct. 6, 2022, marked the launch event for the KSU Alumni Young Professionals. For Drummonds, a ’21 graduate of the Michael J. Coles College of Business, it was a night he will never forget.
“It was wild,” Drummonds said. “We had close to 100 people attend our launch event, all of whom were so excited to be part of the program.”
The KSU Alumni Young Professionals was born of Drummonds’ vision to create a community where KSU alumni could network with fellow Owls and find ways to give back to the University. After creating a group on LinkedIn, Drummonds began messaging people based on their alumni status, sharing information about the group and encouraging them to join.
“It was a grassroots effort to connect people,” he explained. “In late December 2021, I held the first meetup with three other alumni at a local brewery. As more people started to join our LinkedIn group and attend our meetups, I began to see a future for the program – I just never envisioned it would become what it is today.”
When the Kennesaw State University Alumni Association officially chartered the KSU Young Professionals in July 2022, it became its fifth affinity group. Associate Director of Alumni and Constituent Engagement, Savannah Lockman, played an instrumental role in working with Drummonds, who served as the affinity group’s inaugural president, to outline the vision for the organization moving forward.
“Grey was very passionate about connecting recent graduates to each other, many of whom missed out on a traditional graduation and networking experience because of COVID-19,” said Lockman. “He didn’t create this group for himself—he was thinking of others and how he could help them while giving back to the University.”
Intended to connect graduates of the last decade, the KSU Young…
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