My old university is cranking up the pressure and professionalism in its Alumni Department. And it shows.

It began when my mother mentioned casually that they’d rung to speak to me (they still had my old contact details, and I’d never been particularly interested in updating them to allow them to follow me) following a letter they’d sent asking for a contribution. She gave me the letter, which was from a student working part time in the Alumni Department. A few days later I got a call at home from the student, mentioning “the letter which your mother will have given to you.” So, either this student is a particularly diligent note-taker or they’ve got a damned good CRM system. This doesn’t feel like the institution I left, dizzy and confused from the multiple blows of Thatcherism and the twisted logic of market forces. It seems to have found its feet and come back with a vengeance.

So she asked if I wanted to contribute to the university, I declined and she asked why. I thought about saying that it was very American, but that didn’t sound like a suitable justification, so I said that I’d finished my education, and it seemed rather odd to continue paying for it. She said, yes, she understood, and asked if I’d mind answering a few more questions. I said that was fine, we talked for another couple of minutes, during which I also declined to give her a contact e-mail address, and she finally thanked me for my time. She rang off without asking for my new address.

Then just this week at home I received an envelope. It contained a greetings card printed for the university, in full colour, with a nicely produced drawing on the front depicting various university buildings. And inside was a handwritten note in the careful, rounded style of a young girl (only a notch away from having smiley faces in the Os). It was from the student, and over the course of three or four sentences she said she appreciated the chance to talk, understood that I did not wish to support the university and again thanked me for my time. I’ve had Christmas cards from friends with less effort put into them.

On the back of the card were the details of the Alumni Department, in case I changed my mind. I won’t. I don’t feel that I should contribute to my former university in gratitude for the education I received there any more than I feel I should contribute to any of my former employers for the experience I gained there. But I am still confused (and impressed) by the unusually personal nature of the approach, and can’t help feeling that the greetings card arrived with a whiff of moral blackmail.

Tags: education, charity, alumni