Students never leave the school, even after they receive their diploma. They become a part of something far bigger: an alumni community that stretches across workspaces, cities and generations. At the center of that network sits Marksmen Connect, the school’s online alumni platform.
Ahlberg & Ribman Family Director of Alumni Relations Jack Mallick ’14 aims to ensure that student relationships with the school don’t end when they receive their diploma.
“People enjoy a lifelong relationship with the school,” Mallick said. “It’s so much more than just a place where they come to attend school from first through 12th grade. This is a school and a community that will stick with you for the rest of your life.”
Mallick believes that a student’s relationship with the school evolves over time; many Marksmen return to campus and remark on how different it feels compared to when they graduated, and many also feel a duty to give back to the community, “Marksmen Connect is our online alumni engagement platform,” Mallick said. “The goal of Marksmen Connect is to create a platform where alums can view and see folks all over the world and keep close with one another.”
He believes people feel a responsibility to network with one another, whether through reaching out, answering phone calls or responding to emails from other alums. Marksmen Connect allows people to see career opportunities or see if another Marksmen is moving to their city.
Mallick credits the strong connection between alumni as the reason why more than 50 percent of them give back to the annual fund every year. He believes that this is what makes the Alumni Association special and unique. To him, the school is home.
“I spent first-12th grade here, and I’m one of four boys (in my family) who went here,” Mallick said. “My mom works in the Lower School. St Mark’s is family. I love keeping our alums closely connected with the school and continuing to push the school forward in a positive way.”
The Alumni Board oversees committees ranging from awards to event planning to fundraising. Each summer, committee chairs go on a retreat to set goals for the year, which are then shared with the full 43-member board. It’s a coordinated effort to get ready for the upcoming school year, and it relies heavily on alumni who volunteer their time.
Active students don’t receive unfettered access to Marksmen Connect, at least not without understanding how to use alumni resources appropriately.
“We are happy to give some (students) access to Marksmen Connect prior to graduation, but we always have them come up here and meet with somebody in our office to learn about best practices and appropriate usage: what the tool is meant for,” Mallick said. “The tool is not meant for people to just say, ‘Hey, I’m a junior at St Mark’s, and I want an internship this summer, so I’m going to email 100 alumni that are involved in consulting and ask for an internship next summer.’”
To Mallick, the alumni network provides a place for alumni to find mentorship and ask for advice. He wants to avoid students mass-calling alums and deterring them away from making future connections.
While this may mature into an internship, the program’s goal is to foster connections between Marksmen.
Recent anecdotes suggest that this approach is highly effective.
“We hear constant stories of alums who go on Marksmen Connect and find guys who fit the bill to work for them,” Mallick said. “We always hear from our alumns that ‘Marksmen love to hire Marksmen.’”
The Mentoring and Networking Committee, a subcommittee of the Alumni Board, has a goal to make alumni’s first instinct to look at Marksmen Connect when they have the opportunity for a job or internship.
In this way, the Mentoring and Networking Committee’s goal is to expand the capabilities of Marksmen Connect to be somewhat of a LinkedIn for the school.
Current students recognize the importance of alumni relationships and the responsibility to give back to the school’s community. Andrew Zhang, senior and co-president of the Student-Alumni Association, sees how important these connections are.
“A big part of any school is the alumni,” Zhang said. “When you’re evaluating schools, you evaluate how strong their alumni network is. Alumni usually come back and are really enthusiastic about the school. I feel like they involve themselves more than in any other high school. At alumni events, there are always so many people.”
The strength of the alumni network reflects a larger culture of St. Mark’s: inclined to serve one’s community, connect with its members and pave the way for future generations.