Hoops and Handshakes brings students and alumni together

By Marcus Whitman, Staff Writer

Photo by Marcus Whitman/ The Towerlight

The College of Business and Economics (CBE) hosted Hoops and Handshakes at SECU Arena to allow CBE members and alumni an opportunity to network with one another while watching a men’s basketball game from the arena’s multipurpose room.

Staff members from the college worked with the Young Alumni Advisory Council and Towson’s Athletics Department to put the event together and find the right game to bring the alumni back to campus for.

Laura Braddick, a communications specialist in the College of Business and Economics, helped organize the event and said that it helps bring alumni with similar careers back together to interact with one another.  

“The purpose of the event is to bring alumni back to campus,” Braddick said. “We want the alumni to come back to campus and interact with each other, and athletics wants alumni to come back and watch the games.”

Patrick St. Clair, the Young Alumni Advisory Council chair and 2016 alumni, said they reached out to other alumni through personal networks to tell them about the event. These networks mostly consist of friends and coworkers.  

“[These events are] great and I am excited that the numbers are growing” St. Clair said.

St. Clair also mentioned that the Young Alumni Advisory Council helps current students engage with alumni as a way to encourage group growth.

“We do two things, we work to grow and engage the alumni the network,” he said. “And the second thing we do is improve the education experience, and help [students] prepare themselves to become alumni.”

Kiki Oosterwijk, a member of the fall class of 2015, said she likes coming back to campus to see faculty and to attend various events.

Oosterwijk also attends as many TU events as she can and helps the CBE by coming in to speak with students.

“I love coming back to the business school to speak to classes,” Oosterwijk said.