{"id":125261,"date":"2020-07-22T10:24:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T16:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=125261"},"modified":"2020-07-24T12:58:17","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T18:58:17","slug":"alumni-pen-letters-of-welcome-to-incoming-first-year-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=125261","title":{"rendered":"Alumni pen letters of welcome to incoming first-year class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/680px-Communique-Images.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/680px-Communique-Images.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/680px-Communique-Images.png 680w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/680px-Communique-Images-300x199.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These days, we\u2019re more attached to digital tools than ever, from Teams chats and Zoom meetings to email and texts. But over the last few weeks, more than 100 UCCS alumni put pen to paper to handwrite over 3,000 letters of welcome to incoming students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new initiative, called Write-a-Mountain-Lion, is a joint partnership between the Office of Alumni Relations and the Annual Fund and Enrollment Management. The offices provided stationery and stamped, pre-addressed envelopes to volunteer pencil-pushers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the hands of over 100 volunteers \u2013 more than 75 of whom are both members of the UCCS faculty and staff bodies as well as alumni \u2013 cramped while signing, sealing and delivering personal notes of congratulations to the incoming first-year class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn a time filled with\nuncertainty, we know these notes helped encourage and inspire our new students\nas they embark on their journeys at UCCS,\u201d said Lisa Bartholme, assistant director\nof Alumni Relations and the Annual Fund, who helped to spearhead the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a personal touch that\nhelps our students feel reassured and confident in their decision to come to\nUCCS,\u201d Bartholme continued. \u201cKnowing that those who came before them had such\nwonderful experiences offers peace of mind and support to get them started on\nthe right foot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having dotted their i\u2019s and crossed their t\u2019s, alumni will finish mailing the letters by July 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Alumni will be the first to tell you that their Mountain Lion experience was just that \u2013 an experience,&#8221; said Mathew Cox, senior executive director for Enrollment Management. &#8220;We wanted&nbsp;members of our alumni community to convey to new students that this truly is a family affair, and that the UCCS experience was impactful to them and will be to these students as well.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more about the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Office of Alumni Relations (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uccs.edu\/alumni\/\" target=\"_blank\">Office of Alumni Relations<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uccs.edu\/admissionsenrollment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Office of Admissions (opens in a new tab)\">Office of Admissions<\/a> online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"971\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML-750x971.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"125267\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?attachment_id=125267\" class=\"wp-image-125267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML-750x971.png 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML-300x388.png 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML-1187x1536.png 1187w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sloan-WAML-1583x2048.png 1583w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">&#8220;I will always be a proud Mountain Lion,&#8221; said alumni volunteer Sloan Gonzalez &#8217;10, &#8217;16.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"971\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML-750x971.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"125268\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?attachment_id=125268\" class=\"wp-image-125268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML-750x971.png 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML-300x388.png 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML-1187x1536.png 1187w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Kayla-WAML-1583x2048.png 1583w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Alumni volunteer Kayla Gronseth-Boyer &#8217;17, &#8217;18 shared her excitement to write to incoming first-years on social media.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>More than 100 UCCS alumni put pen to paper to handwrite over 3,000 letters of welcome to incoming students. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=125261\" title=\"Alumni pen letters of welcome to incoming first-year class\">(More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":125286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49],"tags":[107,263,332,63],"class_list":["post-125261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","tag-alumni-relations","tag-enrollment-management","tag-more-news","tag-student-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/680px-Communique-Images.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-wAl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125261"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125297,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125261\/revisions\/125297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/125286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}