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Flyers for Life

Nashville volunteers help create Flyer family

By Nathan Pyle ‘12

Author bio
City: Nashville
Profession: Recording Academy, South Region
Favorite UD home: 404 Stonemill
UD role: My favorite part about being the Nashville Alumni Community social chair is bringing the culture of Dayton to Nashville through our events.

As a UD volunteer, I do what I can to help meet the needs of other alumni. I volunteer because I enjoyed my years in Dayton and want to help continue that experience in the programs we offer for alumni.

Nashville is a city of transplants; most alumni in the area are not from here. Our alumni community is able to help Flyers feel a sense of family when they’re far from Dayton and far from home.

Our shared experiences at UD are what drive alumni back together, whether it’s discussing where we lived or a memorable Christmas on Campus. It’s a different experience to live in a city where not everyone knows what the A-10 Conference is. The feeling of UD tradition stays with alums, and I enjoy being able to help them feel the same way here in Nashville.

I’ve been part of the Nashville Alumni Community leadership team for several years, and I’ve seen our current volunteer structure make a great impact. In the past, one alum was in charge of all programming. Now, we have a team in place and are able to share ideas and divide the work. When we plan events, we ask what we can do to assist other alumni, such as bringing in a speaker to discuss the new tax law and what the changes will mean.

This new alumni community structure helped us win two awards from the Alumni Association- The 2016 High Flyer Award for showing the most improvement and development in a year and the 2017 Community of the Year Award for best representing the Alumni Association’s mission; the University’s mission; and what it means to learn, lead and serve.

We all live busy lives with many commitments, but volunteering for UD is a chance for me to get outside my day-to-day life. Meeting and working with other UD alumni is a chance to maintain relationships outside of my professional industry and stay well-rounded by hearing fresh perspectives from new people.

Volunteering also helps me feel a connection to campus. The culture students experience at UD is the same culture we try to replicate in Nashville. Even 300 miles from Dayton, it’s still the same sense of community we all fell in love with.


Learn more about how to get involved in your local alumni community and the impact of alumni volunteers at UD.

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