Connecting with your Alumni Chapter

Being a Duck means you are part of the Duck community, no matter where you go after graduation. While there are several ways to stay plugged in to the UO, you may find that joining a regional alumni chapter can offer a wealth of benefits! Learn more from two regional volunteers who found connections through their local chapters. 

Leadership opportunities and exploring other interests 

Upon graduating I moved to Portland, a new city for me. Besides acclimating to the 9–5 job, exploring the city, and making new friends, I wanted to get more involved with the Portland community. I attended a PDX Ducks board meeting to learn more about the chapter, and sure enough found an area I was interested in and where the chapter needed help: social media. During my last year in college I took a social media marketing class, and loved it. My job at the time was not social media related, but I was able to volunteer by running the chapter’s Facebook and Instagram pages. My time with the Portland Ducks provided me with the experience to become the social media director for the Seattle Ducks, after moving to Seattle.  

Mentors

Successful individuals such as CEOs, business owners, and athletes, express the importance of having a mentor throughout their careers, but I have found it’s not easy to find the right mentor. I was fortunate enough to have established a mentorship relationship with a fellow alumna in the Seattle chapter. She provides me with career advice and conflict resolution guidance, and inspires me to pursue my career aspirations in finance. I’m grateful to have someone I can call my mentor. I now understand how impactful it is to have someone you trust guide and advise you, and do so selflessly and wholeheartedly.

Networking 

As you can imagine, in Seattle there is a lot of purple and not enough green and yellow around the city. One of the first actions I took when moving to Seattle was getting involved with the Seattle Ducks chapter. I not only met fellow Ducks to watch football games with, but have met business owners around the area who support our chapter and help Ducks connect! 



My spouse Rikki (Higgins) Ford completed her undergraduate degree in 2005, and master’s degree in 2007, both at the UO. Rikki actually encouraged me to start Duck football watch parties once we moved to Philadelphia. I wanted to be able to watch Oregon sporting events with people who share my same rooting interests. However, the benefits far exceed just watching a football or basketball game at a local bar with Duck fans. The Philly Ducks alumni chapter has helped me gain strong friendships with people whom I most likely would not have met otherwise. Not everyone in our watch party group actually attended the UO. Some are born and raised Oregonians who ended up in Philadelphia for one reason or another.

I had our first unofficial Oregon Ducks football watch party for the national championship game vs. Ohio State in January of 2015. There were about 10–15 of us for the first watch party, but it mostly consisted of friends of mine who did not have an affiliation with the UO or Oregon. For the first football game of the 2019 season, we actually had 22 people attend the Philly Ducks watch party, all with a connection to either the UO or the state of Oregon. It was our largest attended watch party we have ever had, thanks to it being a big game, as well as it being an official watch party, which helped attract more people who didn't know we existed.

Benefits of getting involved with your local chapter:

• Joining your local alumni chapter is a great way to meet people who have some sort of connection to either the UO or the state of Oregon, especially if you’re moving to a new state
• There are opportunities to network with folks who may have common career paths with you
• Stay aware of what's going on at the University of Oregon (sports, politics, new facilities, etc.)
• Great excuse to go to a bar and enjoy food, drinks, and a game with like-minded Ducks

Being a Duck means you are part of the Duck community, everywhere you go. Interested in meeting like-minded Ducks near you? Visit uoalumni.com/alumnigroups to learn more about getting involved in alumni chapters and groups!