Passing the Gavel: Marcus Davis takes helm of TSU Alumni Association
- By Staff Writer
- Published 12/16/2009
- Education
- Unrated
HOUSTON- Marcus Davis plans to utilize his business savvy, community involvement and the degree he earned as a Public Affairs major at Texas Southern Univeristy, to galvanize the alumni and former students of his alma mater to increase student and alumni enrollment, community outreach and giving. Davis, who was elected president of the TSU National Alumni Association, is energized and anxious to get to work.
He will officially assume his role as national president in January 2010. The 1996 graduate of TSU says, “Being elected president of the national alumni association of one of the largest Historically Black College Universities (HBCU) in the country is exciting, challenging, and full of opportunities. I know where the alumni association is; and I know where it has the potential to go.”
He plans to take advantage of the fact TSU sits in the third largest city in the U.S., and has a vast amount of resources available to raise awareness about TSU. Davis will use all of the above and other advantages to raise money for scholarships and fellowships create mentoring programs and community outreach and partnerships.
Davis says he would like to undertake new initiatives and will start with acknowledging the graduates of TSU who are supportive of the university and who have been a mainstay through the university’s growing pains. “We have got some graduates whose support for the university is unwavering. We need to say thank you to them for remaining steadfast. I think that’s a first step and a great place to begin.”
He referenced the recent Distinguished Alumni Gala held last month by the university that honored eight alumni and 11 chapters. “We need to do more of that because the alumni, like other individuals have an innate desire to be recognized. I think the more the university does for the alumni, the more the alumni can and will do for the university.”
Davis, who is a long-time Houston businessman and owner of The Breakfast Klub Restaurant, has a plan and that plan calls for painting a picture of a common goal for Texas Southern University and the Alumni Association. “I plan to paint the picture of our common goal, which is to make Texas Southern the best university in the world. This picture will then compel alumni and former students to work toward that goal. I hope to remind our graduates of the good fortune they have received by being a product of TSU, and to then encourage them to think about all they have to offer potential students. As parents always want better for their children, we as TSU alumni should want better for our university,” Davis continued.
Davis doesn’t just talk the talk; he spends a lot of time on campus, at least two to three days a week. “I love being on the campus. I get inspired by walking the campus, talking to students and watching the physical changes, from the newly trimmed trees to the weekly conversations with students, it’s quite obvious that there is something different going on at TSU,” says Davis. When asked how he plans to include the alumni in his vision, Davis maintains, “I intend to ask the alumni to get involved in things that connect them to the school and to the students.”
For instance, he plans to energize the on-campus career days by asking alumni to speak and mentor. The first thing he wants to build upon is communicating what TSU has the potential to build and to become. “I’m a firm believer in the old adage, `if you build it, they will come.’ If we build a better TSU, everyone will want to be a part of it.”
Davis says “The role of alumni has not caught on at TSU yet, but it wasn’t ingrained and instilled in me to give back until recent years. Now I know that we (alumni and former students) have got to take care of TSU. The culture of giving back has to be created across the universe. Other universities send that message of giving back loudly and clearly and we have got to do the same,” the new president stressed.
He will officially assume his role as national president in January 2010. The 1996 graduate of TSU says, “Being elected president of the national alumni association of one of the largest Historically Black College Universities (HBCU) in the country is exciting, challenging, and full of opportunities. I know where the alumni association is; and I know where it has the potential to go.”
He plans to take advantage of the fact TSU sits in the third largest city in the U.S., and has a vast amount of resources available to raise awareness about TSU. Davis will use all of the above and other advantages to raise money for scholarships and fellowships create mentoring programs and community outreach and partnerships.
Davis says he would like to undertake new initiatives and will start with acknowledging the graduates of TSU who are supportive of the university and who have been a mainstay through the university’s growing pains. “We have got some graduates whose support for the university is unwavering. We need to say thank you to them for remaining steadfast. I think that’s a first step and a great place to begin.”
He referenced the recent Distinguished Alumni Gala held last month by the university that honored eight alumni and 11 chapters. “We need to do more of that because the alumni, like other individuals have an innate desire to be recognized. I think the more the university does for the alumni, the more the alumni can and will do for the university.”
Davis, who is a long-time Houston businessman and owner of The Breakfast Klub Restaurant, has a plan and that plan calls for painting a picture of a common goal for Texas Southern University and the Alumni Association. “I plan to paint the picture of our common goal, which is to make Texas Southern the best university in the world. This picture will then compel alumni and former students to work toward that goal. I hope to remind our graduates of the good fortune they have received by being a product of TSU, and to then encourage them to think about all they have to offer potential students. As parents always want better for their children, we as TSU alumni should want better for our university,” Davis continued.
Davis doesn’t just talk the talk; he spends a lot of time on campus, at least two to three days a week. “I love being on the campus. I get inspired by walking the campus, talking to students and watching the physical changes, from the newly trimmed trees to the weekly conversations with students, it’s quite obvious that there is something different going on at TSU,” says Davis. When asked how he plans to include the alumni in his vision, Davis maintains, “I intend to ask the alumni to get involved in things that connect them to the school and to the students.”
For instance, he plans to energize the on-campus career days by asking alumni to speak and mentor. The first thing he wants to build upon is communicating what TSU has the potential to build and to become. “I’m a firm believer in the old adage, `if you build it, they will come.’ If we build a better TSU, everyone will want to be a part of it.”
Davis says “The role of alumni has not caught on at TSU yet, but it wasn’t ingrained and instilled in me to give back until recent years. Now I know that we (alumni and former students) have got to take care of TSU. The culture of giving back has to be created across the universe. Other universities send that message of giving back loudly and clearly and we have got to do the same,” the new president stressed.