INDIANAPOLIS (December 12, 2018) – This fall, we sat down with Mitchell McMahon, president of the Alpha Mu chapter to find out about events happening at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Once a Badger, Always a Brother
Badger brothers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both past and present, come together each Homecoming weekend for the Alpha Mu chapter’s main event of the year: Alumni Weekend.
Student members and alumni alike join for a night of networking and brotherhood full of food, games and professional development. Visitors meet at a restaurant in the fall and at a golf course in the spring.
“We eat together, go to the game together, or if they aren’t going to the game, (we) stay around (to) talk and network,” said Mitchell McMahon, chapter president.
These weekends highlight the long history of the Alpha Mu chapter and the strong bonds built in AKPsi.
The spring weekend event held at Vitense Golfland draws alumni from all decades. McMahon even remembers an alumnus from the 1950s who said the event was the most fun he had had in years.
The event is popular with current members as well, and recent graduates. Members take advantage of this time with alumni to ask for advice about pursuing jobs, moving to a new city after graduation and making connections in the industry. McMahon said the event was an important stepping stone to creating a new alumni engagement program and expanding the chapter’s alumni directory.
“It’s been very successful in providing pledges with interview practice and shadow (opportunities) at different companies,” McMahon said.
For example, Mackenzie Tighe, Alpha Mu’s vice president of alumni, utilized connections she created at an alumni weekend to secure an interview at a top real estate firm.
McMahon believes these weekends allow collegiate members to deepen the chapter’s bonds and further the notion that Alpha Kappa Psi is bigger than the individual experience.
“It gives members a sense of pride in what they’re doing, and (knowledge that) what they’re doing in AKPsi is going to pay off in the long run,” he said.
Building strong relationships between alumni and students gave the chapter an opportunity to use its endowment to increase membership.
“We set up a scholarship through our endowment because AKPsi can be expensive and we never want that to be a deterrent for people to join this great organization,” he said.
McMahon said the chapter leadership continues to frequently contact alumni seeking feedback about events and ideas for future activities.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity was founded in 1904 on the principles of educating its members and the public to appreciate and demand higher ideals in business. With more than 240,000 brothers, Alpha Kappa Psi currently has 226 campus-based chapters and 43metropolitan based alumni chapters across four countries. Learn more about the oldest and largest co-educational professional business fraternity. Alpha Kappa Psi is recognized as the right organization of principled business leaders.
