From CityU’s Alumni Director

I don’t like to overuse clichés, but the world just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Let me show you what I mean.

This week I was notified by the Director of the Education Leadership Program at City University of Seattle, Dr. John Armenia, of some career promotions our alumni have earned. I always am looking for people who want to share their good news since that gives us all an opportunity to delight in each other’s successes. We are striving to build a sense of community, which isn’t always easy when our community truly is spread across continents!

One of the City University alumni names Dr. Armenia included looked very familiar to me. I proceeded to e-mail this CityU alumnus to introduce myself, offer my congratulations, and ask permission to include news of his new job in this month’s “Class Notes” section. I also asked him if he was related to another person I know with the same uncommon last name. It turns out that indeed he is the son of a man who attended a school where I served as Alumni Director before joining CityU two years ago. The gentleman who attended this institution is a very talented National Football League official, and I often see him serving as field judge for NFL games on television. In fact, I saw him just a few nights ago when he officiated the final Seattle Seahawks’ pre-season game.

I was also the Alumni Director there when the alumnus’ father was inducted into that school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, a significant achievement at that institution. At the time of the induction, the gentleman had to referee an NFL game in another city and could not attend the awards ceremony. So he had his son accept the award on his behalf.  Who was the son?  Our very own CityU alumnus Dr. Armenia informed me about.

So let’s see… CityU alumni related to other alumni… who are refereeing games for the Seattle Seahawks… who are one of City University of Seattle’s partners you’ll be hearing more about in the coming months (including this e-newsletter).  Look at what one discovers when a simple connection is made!  Have you tried to make any connections lately?

All the best,