Fellow Old Dominion University Alumni and friends,

As one of the strongest and longest existing alumni chapters on the campus of ODU, the BAC was formed in 1989 to serve as an Alumni Council affiliated with the Alumni Association of ODU.  Our mission is to identify and involve a viable untapped alumni resource to address issues surrounding Black alumni and students of ODU.

The goals of the BAC for 2007-2009 are:

• To make ourselves available to ODU students to help ensure that their years at the University are successful and to help prepare them for life after graduation;
• To increase our commitment to the University at large, understanding that a strong Black population and a strong BAC are crucial to the future of ODU;
• To provide an opportunity for Black Alumni to network thereby strengthening personally and professionally.

As we remain focused on the BAC mission and keeping BAC&'s history ever present in our minds, I encourage you to join our strong team of alumni and friends as we continue to work in support of the University and the ODU Alumni Association.  We encourage your participation in your BAC regardless of where you live.  We are always looking to grow our expansion network of alumni. There is always an opportunity for you to become involved in your BAC.

There are many great things happening at ODU, within the Alumni Association and within BAC.  I encourage you to bookmark  www.odu.edu, www.odualumni.org, and www.odublackalumni.org  so you can remain connected to the University, the Alumni Association, and to BAC.

As you know, football is coming to campus in the Fall of 2009. We are looking forward to our first BAC tail gate event! In 2009, BAC will celebrate a milestone anniversary.  BAC will be 20 years young!  We are looking forward to sharing some exciting news regarding these and other exciting activities taking place within the ODU community. Stay tuned – you don’t want to miss a beat!

Please feel free to contact me or any member of the BAC Board of Directors with your questions or concerns. Our email addresses are here.   Or you may call the Alumni Center at 1-888-638-3435.

With warmest regards,
Maxine Graves Somerville
2007-2009 ODU Black Alumni Council President

...I'm sure you all have heard about how Norfolk was but I just wanted to say a small spiel about it. It was a very good event. The fact alums that are recent and 'non-recent' grads were about to come out was great. We had a nice spectrum of graduation years which was great. I hope we can have more of these events -- because it was requested by those who were in attendance. It was a good chance for me also to get the kinks out of how to run such an event. It surely prepared me for running the roundup in Richmond.

We had a few folks contact me about becoming ODU BAC Regional Reps for Norfolk.

 In Richmond, despite the rain and wind, we had a very good turnout.  Most folks didn't show up until 15-20 minutes after but that was fine. The room started filling up quickly and we needed many tables.

I estimate we had a total of 35 people. Many folks brought a guest which made it the more the merrier. Once everyone got into mix and mingled and settled in,

I filled everyone in on the things that BAC has done and is trying to do.  From the looks on their faces many of them seemed interested, and just like in Norfolk the majority of them wanted to make sure more Roundups took place.

Attached are pictures from the event. Also two potential regional reps volunteered.

Jarvis Jackson '06
Old Dominion University Black Alumni Chapter Vice-President & Program Chair

More past events...