Opt In to a Yale Shared Interest Group

By Margie Smith Whiteleather ‘87

Did you know there is a way to connect with Yale Alumni projects which are not class-year specific? The solution: Shared Interest Groups (SIGs), of which there are over 60 which Yale is aware of. I assumed that Yale organizations had a variety of alumni groups, but didn’t know there is a central list of such groups.  If you live in a rural area, as I do, you may not hear about them.

So I set out to learn how one signs up for a Yale Shared Interest Group, and what it means to join. Bottom line: In order to hear their announcements, you need to contact the interest group coordinators and be sure that you’re in one of their contact streams, whether that be email, Facebook, Twitter or something else.  The Yale Alumni Association does assist with some email announcements, but they usually relate to specific events and are sent only to alumni in the geographic region in which the event will occur.

Mindy A. Marks ‘00, AYA director for shared interest groups, recommends using the AYA web site to connect with individual SIGs. “Shared Interest and Identity Groups are a wonderful way to cross various silos within the alumni population. From the Yale Alumni International Alliance and Yale Summer Institute for the Arts to the Yale Black Alumni Association and Yale Alumni Non-Profit Alliance, there is no limitation on how these groups have a positive impact on their communities and the world. Other SIGs actively planning conferences or large events this year include YaleWomen, Yale in Hollywood, and Yale Veterans Association.”

All of us should have the opportunity to feel intellectual vitality about a topic or activity that we first explored at Yale, and to connect with others who are energized by it.  So go to the “Find a SIG” page and select the group(s) of your interests: http://aya.yale.edu/find/sig