PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 7, 2020) – Prairie View A&M University’s (PVAMU) Office of Alumni Affairs and Office of Development are launching a 5-Year Reunion Program that will create a new tradition of alumni camaraderie and build a sustainable culture of philanthropy. The program will include a variety of events, including educational programming, alumni panelist discussions, mixers, mentoring, and volunteer opportunities. 
Throughout 2021, the program’s initial group will include alumni with graduation years ending in one or six through 2016, such as 1971, 1976, and so on. Other alumni classes will be scheduled to participate every fifth year after graduation.
“This program will be a game-changer for how our alumni collectively contribute to the success of our students and university,” said Director of Alumni Affairs Billy Davis ’91. “We have the opportunity to support PVAMU and grow classmate bonds for a lifetime. This program will continue to lift the profile of PVAMU and establish it as a top-tier university for generations to come.”
The program will include a reunion weekend in the spring semester and a class reunion gift recognition that will occur during Homecoming 2021.
“This will be the first time we’ve had coordinated 5-year reunions on campus, and we welcome all alumni to participate in the program,” Davis said. “It is a time of joy, reflection, and celebration of how far we have come, and a great message to current students of how much we care for them. Hopefully, they will be inspired to continue the tradition of giving their time and treasure to PVAMU.”
While the program focuses on alumni engagement and community, it also aims to cultivate philanthropy. The program will guide and support classes to set participation and gifting goals that will make a collective and significant impact.
“PVAMU continues to be the choice of first-generation college students, and the 5-Year Reunion Program will allow us to grow the Annual Fund, an unrestricted gift for students with immediate needs, such as tuition, housing, nutrition, and technology,” said LaShonda Williams ‘97, Annual Fund director.
Collectively, the classes will influence student retention, increase the university’s ranking, and, most significantly, bridge the economic disparity gap among PVAMU’s students, she said.
“We will be surveying alumni to learn more about the activities that they would like to increase engagement. Information will be disseminated through invitation, the alumni affairs newsletter, and social media,” said Williams.
To learn more about the 5-Year Reunion Program, and update your contact information, visit the Office of Alumni Affairs website at www.pvamu.edu/alumni. To make an online gift, visit giving.pvamu.edu, gift instructions: “Class Gift.”
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By Kendall Hebert