Root

President’s Report
Why Do Alumni Support UTS?
We recognize that UTS is worth nurturing and passing on to future generations of students.
Mark Opashinov, ’88
President, UTSAA
I am often asked about my involvement with
the UTS Alumni Association by those outside
of the UTS community. While the words differ,
they all ask essentially the same thing: “You are
the father of two young children, and a busy
professional,” they say, “and UTS – your high
school after all – is more than a quarter-century
in your past. Why on earth do you do it?”
For me, the answer is always the same: I do
it for the same reasons so many other alumni
support UTS in one way or another – be it
participating in alumni association or school
events, serving on a board or a committee, being
a Year Rep, helping with admission interviews, or
offering financial support to the school to name
just a few examples.
Our continued support for UTS is… a way of
making good on a past debt. It is an effort to
give back in some measure to the institution
that was, for so many of us, a profound
influence on our development into the
adults we eventually became.
To me, the more interesting question is why
so many alumni support UTS: of the 5,000
or so living alumni, a very sizeable proportion
remains actively connected with the school,
often decades after their graduation. I believe
that my conversations with alumni in the years
that I have served the Alumni Association
have provided me with some insight into
this question.
My sense is that we alumni do what we do
for a number of related reasons. Our continued
support for UTS is, for some of us, a way of
making good on a past debt. It is an effort to
give back in some measure to the institution that
was, for so many of us, a profound influence on
our development into the adults we eventually
became. Others see their support as important in
ensuring the preservation of UTS for the benefit
of current and future generations of students.
Lastly, many alumni with whom I have spoken
see their support of UTS as a means to bolster
an institution that has a wide impact on society
through its development of young adults who are
socially responsible, globally-oriented citizens
with a drive to learn about and change their world
in a multitude of fields.
You could sum these all up by saying that
alumni seem to have a sense of stewardship
towards UTS. They recognize that it was – and
is – an institution worth caring about, nurturing,
and passing on to those who come later, ideally
in a better state than before.
But these are just my thoughts on the question.
I would very much like to hear from alumni and
learn what is it that motivates them to support
UTS. Is it what I’ve suggested above? Or is it
something altogether different? Please drop me
a note at mark.opashinov@utschools.ca and let
me know your reasons. n
8 THE ROOT • FALL 2015