Family: something Waynesburg University is all about. Alumni are the backbone of the university, with a high percentage of alumni on the faculty and staff, carrying on the Waynesburg tradition. Victoria Beppler, associate director of alumni relations and Waynesburg graduate of 2011, is part of that tradition. Her title on campus and passion for Waynesburg gives her the ability to connect with alumni and bring them together for annual events.

The kick-off alumni date season began with a Pittsburgh Networking lunch at a local restaurant in the area called Revel and Roost.

“That was a very well attended event, it’s a great opportunity,” said Beppler. “That event specifically is a really nice opportunity because we invite all alumni who live and work in the Pittsburgh area to just join us for a complementary lunch and network with each other.”

Beppler took part in hosting the eighth annual Alumnae Luncheon on Sept. 15, held at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe, and 71 ladies joined together to attend.

Beppler said the “numbers were where they needed to be,” and that is something she looks for every year when planning these types of events.

Beppler said Mary Fox, event planner, is the “brains behind the planning” of events such as these.

“I like to say that I just get to go and hang out with our alumni,” Beppler said.

Beppler added that she gets to represent the university at these events, but what makes the events really come together is Fox’s planning.

“Mary handles the planning, she’s like our planning queen – our guru,” Beppler said.

Coming up for alumni, on Sept. 29 to 30, the biggest event according to Beppler is Homecoming.

During this season and preparing to contact alumni near such a big event, Beppler reaches out to alumni by focusing a lot on social media and marketing on social media outlets.

“We find a lot of alumni don’t decide that they’re coming, unless they’re celebrating a reunion year,” Beppler said. “They don’t decide whether or not they’re coming back until the week of Homecoming.”

The biggest factor that controls the outcome of alumni traveling to campus for Homecoming is the weather, but another factor was added to the list this year: Homecoming being an earlier date.

“Usually we’re celebrating Homecoming with an October date, so usually the first or second weekend in October is when we had it,” said Beppler. “It just worked out this year that it’s September 29 and 30 but hoping just that we get a lot of people back, especially if the weather is nice.”

In addition to marketing on social media, Beppler, known to alumni as the ‘email lady,’ focuses on sending alumni campus updates and sharing more events during homecoming weekend to get alumni more engaged.

“We also focus heavily on email marketing, we send out a newsletter each month and we also focus on sending emails out to those celebrating reunion years and just updates on the schedule,” Beppler said. “We have a lot going on that weekend and the list keeps growing.”

Beppler takes her perspective in her everyday workplace to try and help get the attention of Waynesburg alumni.

“I always try and think of ‘what would I want to come back and do?’” said Beppler. “I get to do all of these things and I’m grateful for that – I get to do all of them because I’m an alum and I work here, but I like to try and think of ‘what would I come back for?’”