Jason Shorb (B.B.A.’97, Marketing)
Hometown: Kalamazoo / Galesburg, MI
Current Location: Atlanta, GA
Campus Involvement: Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, Western Herald journalist, world's best pizza cutter at Godfather's Pizza on West Main
Job Title and Company/Organization: Senior Brand Manager - Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company
Favorite campus memory: Freshman year meeting new friends in the Valleys at Garneau / Harvey Hall, some who are still good friends to this day, and my two years as a journalist with the Western Herald
After graduating, I moved to Chicago for a job that I literally got by responding to a classified job ad in a newspaper! I didn’t know many people in the city at the time, so I decided to get involved with the local Alumni Chapter and met some new Bronco friends, including Hardy Figueroa from WMU University Advancement. Fast-forward 15 years, Hardy reached out to me again to inform me that I had been nominated to join the Alumni Association Board, and that was that.
I've met some wonderful fellow Broncos who take a lot of pride in the University, and it’s been great to see the notable progress in better engaging our alumni from improving email communications and social media to organizing ways for alumni to get involved through events, volunteering and online book clubs.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect before I joined the Alumni Association Board, but I was pleased to see the great makeup and diversity of the board, and also that there was a real focus and passion on serving the needs of the University and better connecting with and recognizing our alumni as well as supporting future Broncos with the Legacy Scholarship.
There are two things that I normally share with fellow alumni:
- Our goal on the Alumni Association Board, in partnership with the University, is to foster engagement and life-long relationships with our alumni. No matter where you live in the US or internationally, there are ways you can stay involved with Western, which may lead to new opportunities, experiences and connections you didn’t expect.
- Understand the value of continuing to give back to the University, as it goes a long way to supporting future generations of students who may not be able to afford higher education otherwise.
- Actually, I’ll add a third thing…Remember that ‘it’s a great day to be a Bronco’!