Alumni Welcome Incoming Students with New “Walk the Walk” Tradition

Becky Biegelsen | Sept. 29, 2008

Kevin Le ’12 shares his goal
at the “Walk the Walk” event on September 23.

New and returning students are being invited by the UC San Diego Alumni Association to take a walk through the campus’ history and celebrate the talents and achievements of the outstanding alumni community they will one day join as part of a new “Walk the Walk” initiative.

Beginning September 21 and continuing through October 31, blue and gold banners showcasing many of UCSD’s outstanding alumni will billow along Library Walk. From household names like professional female surfer and model Holly Beck and Mike Judge, producer of Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill and Office Space, to those with global influence like best-selling writer of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini and nobel-prize-winning doctor Susumu Tonegawa, the banners offer students the opportunity to trace the steps of their talented predecessors and be inspired by their successes.

“Our goal is to help make incoming students appreciate the astonishing community of alumni they will join upon graduation,” said Armin Afsahi ‘90, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Alumni Affairs. “As we launch this new tradition on campus, we hope to build bridges between students and alumni and impart the pride of being a member of the Triton community for life.”

An integral component of the “Walk the Walk” initiative has been to help foster a sense of class identity. On Tuesday, September 23, more than 100 enthusiastic new freshmen and transfer students gathered on Library Walk at the site of their future class plaque and were asked to envision how their achievements might impact the future. Each student was photographed holding up a sign with the words “I will” followed by their own vision statement written in the blank space. The students then shared their aspirations, ranging from personal goals to be more passionate and take more risks in life, to societal goals such as helping to build a school in a third world nation or becoming the first woman on the moon.

Madison Donoghue ’12 expresse
her lunar desire at the “Walk the Walk” event.

“Most of the students had a hard time choosing just one aspiration,” said Brittan Trozzi '01, student programs manager in the Alumni Affairs office. “But the unifying theme for all the students was that the each wanted to make a difference in the world.”

A joint venture of the UCSD Alumni Association and UC San Diego Student Affairs Division, the “Walk the Walk” initiative is the first of many such partnerships that help connect the lives of current students with their alumni family and communicate the core values of a UCSD education on campus and beyond.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Dr. Penny Rue remarked, “It is our hope that the ‘Walk the Walk’ campaign will instill a strong sense of community for students and strengthen the lifelong bond they will have with UC San Diego. The program also encourages students to reach for their dreams by illustrating the extraordinary accomplishments of the alumni on whose shoulders they now stand.”