Alumni Networking Groups

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Last Updated: Sep 16, 2024, 09:41 AM

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Current Alumni Networking Groups

Wherever you go, there’s a Saluki near you. With more than 260,000 living alumni of SIU, the Association has many networking groups around the country. Find out more about the Salukis in your home region and reach out today.

Alumni groups are made up of graduates, former students, and friends of SIU, all of whom share a special mutual interest and gather as an organization to serve the University. This initiative illustrates a collaboration between the University, our alumni around the world, and current SIU students.

Contact Catherine Mieldezis by email or at 618-453-2408 if you are interested in becoming a representative of one of the current groups.

Check Out Our Alumni Groups

Illinois Alumni Networking Groups

Chicagoland Group

Representative: SIU Alumni Association

More than 40,000 alumni reside in the Chicagoland Area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, contact one of the representatives: the SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join the SIU Alumni Association social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Greater Rockford Group

Representative: Pat Wilhimi

More than 1,500 alumni reside in Rockford and the surrounding counties. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Pat Wilhimi, rockfordsalukis@alumni.siu.edu or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.


Peoria Tri-County Group

Chapter Representative: Mike Munge

More than 2,600 alumni reside in the Peoria Tri-County Area (includes Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford Counties). To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representatives Mike Munge, Keith O'connor or the SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.
Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Prairie Capital Group

Chapter Representative: Tim McCarthy

More than 4,300 alumni reside in the Prairie Capital Chapter Area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Tim McCarthy, pcsalukis@alumni.siu.edu at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

U.S. Alumni Chapters/Clubs

Atlanta Group

Chapter Representative: Fred Andrews

More than 3,000 alumni reside in the Atlanta area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Fred Andrews, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Austin/San Antonio Group

Chapter Representative: Sean Lervaag

More than 1,800 alumni reside in the Austin/San Antonio area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative  Sean Lervaag, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408. You can also connect with the chapter by "liking" their Austin/San Antonio Facebook page.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Central Florida Group

Chapter Representative: Jarrod Echols

More than 2,000 alumni reside in the Central Florida area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Jarrod Echols, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Dallas/Ft. Worth Alumni Group

Representatives: JoAnn Paulek and Marco Perez

More than 2,900 alumni reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representatives  JoAnn Paulek, and Marco Perez, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Memphis Area Group

Chapter Representative:Tecora Murray

More than 1,000 alumni reside in the Memphis area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Tecora Murray, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Greater Michigan Group

Representatives: Zac Winstead and Quinten Schift

More than 2,300 alumni reside in Michigan. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representatives Zac Winstead and Quinten Schift or  SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Minnesota Group

Chapter Representative: Todd Johnson

More than 1,600 alumni reside in the state of Minnesota. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Todd Johnson, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Greater Nashville Alumni Club

Representative: Elle Turner

More than 1,351 alumni reside in the Greater Nashville Area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Representative Elle Turner or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408. You can also connect with the chapter by "liking" their Greater Nashville Facebook Fan Page.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Greater Phoenix Group

Representative: Danny Griffin

More than 2,800 alumni reside in the Greater Phoenix Area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Chapter Representative Danny Griffin or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

San Francisco Bay Area Group

Chapter Representative: Makela Clay

More than 3,000 alumni reside in the greater San Francisco area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representative Makela Clay, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Seattle-Tacoma Area Group

Chapter Representative: Michael Tow and Darin Barr

More than 3,000 alumni reside in the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Group Representatives Michael Tow and/or Darin Barr, or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408. You can also connect with the chapter by "liking" their Austin/San Antonio Facebook page.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

St. Louis Area Group

Representatives: Leslie Patterson & Ayanna Flowers

More than 15,900 alumni reside in the St. Louis and Metro-East Area. To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact the St. Louis Chapter representatives or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408. You can also connect with the chapter by "liking" their St. Louis Facebook Fan Page.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

South Florida Alumni Group

Club Representative: Will Stransky

More than 1,600 alumni reside in the South Florida area (including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach). To meet fellow SIU alumni and participate in future activities, please contact Club Representatives Will Stransky or SIU Alumni Association at 618-453-2408.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world

Saluki Veterans Alumni Group

The SIU Alumni Association’s Saluki Veteran’s Alumni Group is dedicated to the military veterans who have and continue to serve their country. The Association’s National Board of Directors formally chartered the in 2014, as this was the culmination of work that began when alumnus Ryan McKennedy ‘13 approached the Association looking for a way to connect veteran alumni and students.

Alumni groups are made up of graduates, former students, and friends of SIU, all of whom share a special mutual interest and gather as an organization to serve the University. This initiative illustrates a collaboration between the University, our alumni around the world, and current SIU students.

Contact the Association or one of the group’s officers if you would like to become involved with the Saluki Veterans.

Officers

Paul Copeland, salukiveterans@alumni.siu.edu

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Alumni Band Group

The SIU Alumni Band has been an official constituency group of the SIU Alumni Association since 1989. The group operates with five main goals:

  1. Improve communication between alumni and the SIU bands
  2. Increase interaction among alumni
  3. Assist in promoting the SIU bands and attract new students to the band program
  4. Hold an annual reunion for band alumni and guests on homecoming weekend
  5. Increase the role of band alumni in halftime activities of the SIU homecoming game.

The first Alumni Band Group officers were Janice Gahagan (president), Mardi Huffstetter (vice president), Karen Driver (treasurer), and Bruce Arnold (secretary). The current officers are listed below. Feel free to contact them to inquire about becoming active with this group.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Officers

President: Brian Munoz

Vice Presidents: Joe Legg (North), Sean Cooney (South)

Secretary:

Treasurer: Ivan Vargas

VP Social Media: Caleb Hallock

GO DAWGS!

Check out the Marching Salukis web page, marchingsalukis.siu.edu.

Black Alumni Group

The Black Alumni Group of the SIU Alumni Association, helps maintain, nurture, and advance initiatives while assisting SIU Carbondale.

BAG seeks to keep alive professional, social, and educational relationships developed while at Southern, while providing, assistance, guidance, and support to alumni. The organization solicits gifts to be used for and on behalf of SIU, its faculty, students, and staff; and assists SIU in the recruitment, retention, financial assistance, and career development of students of Black African descent. Held biennially in odd-numbered years, BAG hosts a reunion on a weekend in July. A myriad of social and educational events are scheduled during the reunion weekend, as well as a business meeting, and the election of officers.

Officers

  • President: Richard Gardner
  • Vice President: Cynthia A. Parker-Ferguson
  • Treasurer: Daniel Hall
  • Secretary: Crystal Allen
  • Financial Secretary: Kevin Buford

Your membership dues in the SIU Alumni Association include your membership in the Black Alumni Group. As an official member of BAG, you have voting rights, receive the SIU Alumni magazine on a quarterly basis, and the eight times-per-year electronic mailing of the Saluki Pride newsletter to keep you informed of upcoming events and campus issues. You also enjoy the advantages of savings on SIU imprinted apparel, car rentals, motel rooms, restaurant specials, and much more.

Don't forget to join our social media platforms to share your SIU traditions, pride, and opportunities while also connecting with Salukis from around the world.

Group History

In 1972, three black SIU alumni met in Chicago to discuss how they could perpetuate the friendships they had developed in Carbondale and assist black students planning to attend SIU. Dwight Campbell, Eric Grant, and Dan Thomas helped to organize what was to become the not-for-profit corporation, "The Black Association of SIU."

From 1975 to 1978, this organization held two fundraisers each year – a Thanksgiving dance and a Las Vegas Night – to raise funds for scholarships. Eighteen students were awarded $500 each during this period, and in 1978 this group also helped organize a black alumni reunion on the Carbondale campus when approximately 200 persons attended. The group became inactive in 1980.

In 1985, a group of SIU alumni based in California (including Sharon Banks, Rose Garnett, and Stevie Stephens) helped plan a black alumni reunion for 1986 in Carbondale. They contacted SIU alumna Pat McNeil and asked for assistance in contacting other alumni. These efforts resulted in a July reunion that was attended by more than 350 persons. The keynote speaker was William Butts, then president of the SIU Alumni Association Board of Directors, and it was decided that another reunion would be held in 1988.

A group of black alumni soon petitioned to be recognized as an official SIU Alumni Association affiliate group. As the 1988 reunion was being planned, several meetings were held between this group and members of the Association's Board of Directors, and a charter was soon issued to The Black Alumni Group of the SIU Alumni Association.

BAG's first officers were: John Holmes, President; Richard Hayes, Vice President; Linda Flowers, Secretary; and Doris Weaver, Treasurer. At the 1988 reunion, approximately 400 people were in attendance and the first Support Black Undergraduate Education scholarships were awarded. A vote was taken to hold the reunions biennially during odd-numbered years beginning in 1991.

Carbondale in the '80s and '90s

Representative: Scott Shelton

Organized originally as a Facebook group for alumni interested in reminiscing about their time in Carbondale, the group quickly mobilized to raise funding for a new scholarships to assist students with attending SIU. The Balancing Education, Experience, and Reality (or B.E.E.R.) Scholarship was established with an endowment in 2019 and more than $50,000 raised by members of the group. The group also hosts a tailgate on Saluki Row during Homecoming Weekend. For more information about the group, contact the SIU Alumni Association at (618) 453-2408.

Law Alumni Group

Established in 2019, this group includes past students of the SIU School of Law to engage alumni in programs and activities that support future generations of Salukis interested in pursuing a legal career. For more information about the group, contact the SIU Alumni Association at (618) 453-2408.

The Villages Alumni Group

Representative: Larry Rodkin

Established in 2019, this alumni group is made up of Salukis who now call The Villages retirement community in central Florida home. This group hosts functions and meetings throughout the year inside the community. For more information about the group, contact the SIU Alumni Association at (618) 453-2408.