Cole Wagy has been a student at Quincy University for a couple years, but there was always something special about the bond between former students and current students that drew him to this connection. Cole volunteered whenever possible to help with alumni outreach, and when an email came to him from the advancement office, it contained a unique opportunity: a group of students would travel to Florida to talk to alumni about how important it was to give back to their university. 

A few weeks later, he was getting ready to board a plane for the first time as part of his opportunity to represent the university he had loved so much in Florida. The sunshine in Florida was a million miles from the winter weather of Illinois in February: the palm trees lining the streets were so much taller than the trees that normally lined the streets in Quincy, and the ocean air was so different from the cold winds that typically blow through Quincy in February. 

“Going to Florida to talk with Quincy University alumni reminded me that the Quincy experience doesn’t just end at graduation. Hearing their stories and memories made me proud to represent the admissions office and the future students we’re welcoming,” Wagy said.

Wagy and the development team had a mission to reconnect with alumni who had gone through the same halls that he now goes through. Many of these alumni graduated from Quincy University many years ago and had gone on to build successful lives and careers, create families, build communities, while still maintaining their connection to Quincy University.

He spoke about how he would stay up late at night studying in the library; going to basketball games; his professors encouraged him to think bigger; alumni and scholarship donors helped students focus on their education, not on money; how he expressed to Wagy what the university was to him – not as a place, but more like a family that believed in their students. Finally, all of the alumni were nodding their heads and smiling with all the memories of having been students. They all had their own experiences to share about their time in a dorm, having a favorite professor, or lasting friendships. 

Morgan Widmer works in the admission office with Cole and she thought he was a perfect fit for this trip.

“Working in the admission office at Quincy University has shown me how prideful Cole is and how conversational he can be. When he traveled to Florida to meet alumni, I was certain he was going to make some really good connections down there,” Widmer said.

One alumni told Wagy how listening to a student would take him back to when he first supported the university. Wagy learned that this trip was more than making connections, that it was like a spider’s web, connecting generations of students who have all had the same beginnings. When Wagy returned to Quincy, he looked at his familiar brick buildings with different eyes – he now knew that, for each of the scholarships and all of the building improvements, there were alumni who would support each of those opportunities through the continued belief of the university’s mission.

When Wagy came back to campus from Quincy, Illinois, it appeared that the brick buildings were a new sight for him. The reality of how many alumni had supported him through their donations, scholarships and continuing to have faith in the university will always remain with him. The conversations that Wagy initiated in Florida is what provided every student after him to have alumni support.