NYX Alumni Weekend: Texas Edition
Editors note: This event that our Texas based Alumni are using to get together is a very successful model and should be considered in your local area to keep the connection to our fraternity and the many friendships that we made because of it. Please consider duplicating what Nick shares below and let the AVC know either prior or after the event occurs (or post it on the Alumni Facebook page).
It's funny how quickly our lives "complicate" once we leave college. I don't mean that in a negative way; but our lives just have a way of getting very busy! For some of us, our jobs take us to far away places. Others of us marry, have kids and quickly learn how precious a lazy weekend on the couch can be. I remember naively thinking, back when I was at Clarkson, that I would always return to Potsdam to celebrate New York Chi Alumni weekend with my brothers- no matter what. But then life gets in the way. Last year I found myself regretting the fact that I missed another alumni weekend, and that in the ten since I graduated, I have made it to only three Alumni Weekends. Although it was great to see all of the pictures that brothers were posting on Facebook after last year's event, it left me feeling sad that once again, I was missing out.
But then I had and idea: why not plan a "mini alumni weekend" in Houston (where I currently live) and open it up to everybody, especially those living in the region? The response I got was tremendous considering there was only around 8 weeks notice and most everybody had to travel at least a few hours to Houston.
The inaugural "NYX Alumni Weekend: Texas Edition" was last July in Houston and six brothers were in attendance. The weekend kicked off with Happy Hour on Friday afternoon. It was great catching up with everybody over dinners and drinks and of course, two “hangover curing” brunches! Adam Dimas's stories from his days as a founding father were hilarious and the group even had time to take in a Houston Astros game together. By the end of the weekend, we all agreed this type of "mini" Alumni event needed to be an annual occurrence.
This year, the torch passed to Adam Martin who volunteered to organize the event in 2015. It will be held in New Braunfels, Texas- a small town on the outskirts of San Antonio, most famous for its summertime tradition of camping, as-well-as groups of people lazily floating down the Guadalupe River in large inner-tubes with coolers full of cold beer.
Nothing can fully replace the fun filled festivities of an actual NYX Alumni Weekend in Potsdam considering the large number of alumni and undergrads typically in attendance. But what we've started doing here in Texas may be the next best thing; especially for those of us who can't consistently make it back to Potsdam each spring. So if you find that you and a bunch of brothers living in your area aren't able to consistently make it to the official Alumni Weekend, then I encourage you to bring a small slice of Alumni Weekend to your area!
Nick Saunders
Spring 2002