Young Alumni Resources
Welcome to the alumni community, Grinnellians! Grinnell College is here to support you as you begin your post-grad journey. Engage with the Grinnell alumni community by attending an alumni event, serving as a volunteer, hosting an extern, making a gift and so much more. Check out the information below to get started.
Update your contact information!
One of the most important things you can do to stay connected with the College is to update your contact information! It’s super easy to do that with our online contact information update form.
Why do we want your current info?
- To invite you to awesome alumni events: The Office of Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) coordinates a variety of events – like Reunion, Multicultural Reunion, Athletics Reunion, virtual Spelling Bee, virtual trivia, virtual faculty lectures and discussions (called Alumni College) and much more! We invite alums to register for these events through email – make sure we have your new email address on file (especially if you don’t check your Grinnell email anymore).
- To invite you to region-specific alumni events: DAR also coordinates alumni-led regional events. You will be invited to the events in your region based on the physical address the College has on file for you. So … if the College still has your childhood address, but you no longer live where you grew up, you won’t hear about these awesome opportunities, unless you update your physical address!
- To communicate with you respectfully: If you go by a different name or use different pronouns, you can update that information as well.
- To invite you to give back: DAR will use your contact information to communicate with you about ways you can support the next generation of Grinnellians.
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Stay in touch
Email Account
You may continue to use your Grinnell email account after you graduate. However, if you don’t check your Grinnell email regularly, please share your new email address with the College here.
Instagram
Follow us on Instagram @grinnellalumni to stay up to date on alumni events and news.
Attend an event
Grinnell hosts events for alumni back on campus, as well as across the globe. Check out our events calendar for more information (and watch your email and @grinnellalumni on Instagram, too).
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Volunteer with Grinnell!
There are a variety of ways to share your time with Grinnell College and help your classmates engage with the Grinnell community. Not sure where to start? Complete this fun (and fast) quiz to see where your skills and interests would fit best within our volunteer opportunities. You may also visit our volunteer landing page for more information and see a few highlights below.
Join your Regional Volunteer Network
Are you interested in connecting with fellow Grinnellians in your area? Do you like helping to bring people together? Consider serving as a regional network volunteer in your city. Regional network volunteers plan summer picnics, happy hours, nights at the theatre, and much more! If you are interested in becoming a regional volunteer network member, contact alumni@grinnell.edu for more information.
Class Agents
Class agents foster existing connections and promote new relationships among classmates, other alumni, and the College. They do so primarily by writing class letters once or twice per year that share classmates’ updates and by helping plan your class’s Reunion. Class agents are a vital part of Grinnell’s effort to engage the talent, passion for learning, and generosity of our alumni. Learn more about class agents on the class agent info page. If you are interested in becoming a class agent, contact alumni@grinnell.edu for more information.
Class Fund Directors
Class fund directors (CFDs) serve as leaders in class fundraising efforts to ensure the experiences you had as a Grinnell student are available to the next generation of Grinnellians. Serving as a link between classmates and the College, CFDs send emails to their peers on giving days, write fundraising appeals and thank you notes, and help plan your class’s Reunion. Learn more about CFDs on the CFD information page. If you are interested in becoming a class fund director, contact annualgiving@grinnell.edu for more information.
Externship Host
Host a current Grinnell College student for a job shadow, either virtually or in person. The externship experience allows students to evaluate how their personal values, interests, and expertise may form a future life and career. In return, alumni hosts get to know wonderful Grinnell students and make an impact on their future. Externships take place over spring break each year. Contrary to what you may think, Grinnell students are most interested in externing with young alumni. While you may not be a CEO or a diplomat … you can give students a window into what their lives could look like in the first few years post-grad. If you are interested in serving as a host or have any questions about the program, please contact alumni@grinnell.edu for more information.
Multicultural Reunion Volunteer
Multicultural Reunion volunteers plan all the events, programs, and interactive learning opportunities for the biennial Multicultural Reunion. They strive to rebuild and strengthen relationships between the College, alumni of color, LGBTQIA+ alumni, international student alumni, alumni with disabilities, Jewish alumni, and first-generation alumni. They build community by sharing their individual and collective stories with each other, students, faculty, and staff. Interested in volunteering? Contact alumni@grinnell.edu for more information.
Class Committee Reunion Volunteer
Reunion is the largest Grinnell alumni event held each year. Alumni return to the College to rekindle connections with classmates, enjoy lively conversations and engaging events, and explore the current campus and community. Grinnell College Alumni Reunion begins on the Thursday afternoon after Memorial Day every year. Classes and clusters are invited on a rotating basis, with the goal that no class will go more than six years or less than four years between reunions. Find out when your next reunion will be by visiting the Reunion Calendar.
Interested in helping organize your class’s Reunion? We invite you to serve as a class committee Reunion volunteer. Class committee members work to strengthen their class ties throughout their Reunion year. The committees lead the planning efforts to build a Reunion that will highlight their Grinnell experience and engage and inspire their classmates to be involved, attend, and stay connected with the College. Please contact alumni@grinnell.edu for more information.
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Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS) Resources for Alumni
Check out the CLS’s new website
Visit career.grinnell.edu where alums can access all the CLS information and resources. You will find support for job searching, networking, resumes & cover letters, applying to graduate school, applying to fellowships, getting involved with civic activity, and more. The site allows users to subscribe to areas of interest and stay up to date with recent news and resources.
Interested in writing a mini-blog for the CLS website about some aspect of your career journey, opportunities at your organization for current students, or professional development advice? Visit the guest portal and submit a blog post directly. All submissions go to Robin Bourjaily, CLS Communications and Program Coordinator. Questions? Contact Robin at bourjaily@grinnell.edu.
Global Fellowships and Awards
The Global Fellowships and Awards Office (a division of the CLS) is available to support alumni as they apply for nationally competitive fellowships, scholarships, and grants with special focus on the awards that require a Grinnell nomination, including Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Fulbright, Churchill, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP)-Gaither Junior Fellowship (formerly known as the Carnegie Junior Fellowship). For more information, and a list of additional fellowships and awards that may fit your interests, please visit the Global Fellowships page. You may also schedule an advising meeting with Ann Landstrom, assistant dean & director of global fellowships & awards, through Handshake or via email at landstrom@grinnell.edu.
Meetaway (1:1 virtual networking)
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations and the Center for Careers, Life, and Service are pleased to present Virtual Meetups to foster connections among Grinnell alumni and current students. Attendees utilize the tool Meetaway to have 1:1 virtual conversations about a particular interest area or career industry (i.e., tech and data). Connect with your fellow Grinnellians on a variety of topics spanning your experiences as a Grinnell student and life after Grinnell. For this year’s schedule, visit the Student and Alumni Meetups page.
MentorGrinnell (mentorship platform)
Are you an alum looking to enhance your personal and professional development? Do you wish to connect with individuals who can guide and support you in your journey? Look no further! We are thrilled to announce the launch of MentorGrinnell, a platform designed to foster connections between students and alumni through mentorship.
Other ways to volunteer with the CLS
Check out the CLS website for more info about volunteering with the CLS.
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Support Future Grinnellians
Make a gift
When you make a gift of any size to the area of Grinnell most important to you, you help sustain our commitment to fully preparing today’s Grinnellians-in-the-making — regardless of their ability to afford a college education. With your gift, you honor students as they overturn assumptions and subvert the obvious. And you make it possible for Grinnellians of today and tomorrow to keep inventing the world — as only Grinnellians can. Learn more and make a gift.
Myth Busting about Young Alumni’s Financial Contributions to Grinnell
Myth #1: My gift is too small to make a difference
Reality: There’s power in numbers
Every year Grinnell College raises $25-$35 million in support of more than 500 programs — and much of that money comes from gifts of $25 or less. Collective giving is transformative and together our gifts make a difference for students of today and tomorrow.
Myth #2: My gift won’t make a real day-to-day difference
Reality: Your gift gives financial flexibility
While Grinnell College does plan carefully and allocates budgets accordingly, many gifts give students, deans, faculty, and staff the ability to cover unplanned costs, from emergency needs to exciting new initiatives. Gifts provide flexibility — whether they help the soccer team replace a torn net, enable a student service group to do a project, or support a new mentorship program.
Myth #3: My gift is just put into a big bucket with other gifts
Reality: 100% of your gift goes where you want it to go
Whether that’s to scholarships and financial aid, the Pioneer Fund, the Grinnell Singers, an athletics and recreation program, the student emergency fund, or … the list goes on and on. When you make your gift to Grinnell College it will go to support what is most meaningful to you.
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Awards, Prizes, and Grants
Each year, the College recognizes individuals for outstanding commitment and innovation in serving the common good through various awards, prizes, and grants. See below for a few highlights and check out our awards website for a full list of opportunities.
Joseph F. Wall ’41 Alumni Service Award
The Joseph F. Wall ’41 Alumni Service Award is given to alumni to either jump-start or complete a project that shows creativity and commitment to effecting positive social change. Projects may be original or supplement existing programs, address issues specific to local communities or be of wider global concern, and be carried out domestically or internationally. Any graduate of Grinnell College is eligible to apply, as long as they themselves will act as a principal of the project and they have not received the award in the past. The award was named in honor of Joseph Wall ’41, professor of history and longtime dean of the College, who inspired an ideal of service in his students.
Athletics Hall of Fame
The Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes alumni athletes whose performance in their sport(s) was exceptional. The Hall of Fame may also honor those Grinnell coaches, staff personnel, and others in the College community who have made extraordinary contributions to Grinnell athletics by means other than varsity competition.
Alumni Awards
The Grinnell College Alumni Council selects up to fifteen alumni to receive Alumni Awards at Reunion every year. The Alumni Award recognizes individuals who embody Grinnell College’s mission of lifetime learning and service. Recipients have distinguished themselves by their service to their careers, their community, and/or the College.
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College Resources
Library Resources
Your Grinnell student days may be a thing of the past, but your quest for knowledge does not have to be. To support your lifelong learning endeavors, the Grinnell College Libraries and Office of Development and Alumni Relations are pleased to provide alumni with access to academic databases such as JSTOR, Credo Reference, and Adam Matthew primary sources collections.
To access these resources you will need an account on alumni.grinnell.edu. Please visit the Library for Alumni webpage for access instructions.
Transcripts and Replacement Diplomas
Visit the Registrar’s office website for more information about how to order official and unofficial transcripts, as well as information about how to replace a lost, stolen or damaged diploma.
Online Bookstore
Order all the Grinnell swag you ever dreamed you’d want from the Pioneer Bookshop’s online site bookstore.grinnell.edu.
Future Grinnellian Onesie
Have you welcomed a baby into your home since graduation? First of all, congrats! We are always excited to welcome a new Grinnellian into the world. As a Grinnell alum, we know you might want to share your Grinnell pride with your little one. If you have had or adopted a baby since June 1, 2018, you may fill out the Future Grinnellian form to receive the gift of a Grinnell College “Cutest Grinnellian Ever” onesie.
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