The Student Alumni Association is a student-run organization that works alongside the UCLA Alumni Association to provide students with activities throughout the school year such as Blue and Gold Week and Spring Sing.
Alexa Zabat-Fran, the 2007-2008 Student Alumni Association president, said Blue and Gold Week is one of her favorite events of the entire school year.
“During this week, we aren’t just proud to have a rivalry (with USC), but proud to be from UCLA,” she said.
Blue and Gold Week is held in the fall quarter during the week prior to the UCLA-USC football game and is just one of the many events put on by SAA.
The association plans both social and career-oriented events. Besides Blue and Gold Week, such events include Dinner for 12 Strangers, Spring Sing, career network workshops and conferences, Entertainment Networking Night, Interview with a Bruin and numerous senior activities.
Zabat-Fran has been an SAA student volunteer since her first year at UCLA. She said that being an SAA volunteer has done a great deal to enhance her experience at UCLA.
Entering her fourth and final year as an SAA member, Zabat-Fran says she has grown as a leader.
“SAA has challenged me as a public speaker, writer and event planner,” she said.
While Blue and Gold Week occurs during fall quarter, Dinner for 12 Strangers happens during winter quarter. This event, where alumni host a dinner for a group of students and one faculty member, provides students with an opportunity to form important connections with alumni and faculty.
Zabat-Fran explained that there are many resources available to Bruins and that it is just a matter of networking and talking with the right people.
“The dinner is a good way to make a big campus seem a little smaller,” she said.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Dinner for 12 Strangers. Florence Tseng, a current SAA member, said that this year the organization will be hosting a reception to thank the many alumni hosts who open their homes each year for the event.
Tseng said Dinner for 12 Strangers highlights the strong connection between SAA and alumni, and that without alumni support, many of SAA’s events would not be possible.
“Much of what we do is a collaborative effort between the students and the alumni,” she said.
“The alumni help with logistical issues, the execution of events and marketing,” she added.
Spring Sing brings an end to SAA’s year of activities.
At Spring Sing, UCLA’s most talented singers and musicians compete for a series of awards in front of an audience of students, faculty members, alumni and celebrity judges.
“Spring Sing was definitely a highlight of my first year at UCLA,” said, Amanda Boeldt, a second-year chemical engineer student. “I couldn’t believe how talented some students are.”
Zabat-Fran said SAA is a great way to build alumni relations, encourage interaction between students and alumni and to promote spirit, loyalty and tradition.
“As a student there are so many people on campus and so many resources. It is hard to find someone who can help mentor and direct you. Through our program, we are connected with alumni who really want to help,” she said.
Tseng said the association also aims to get students on campus involved with the university.
“Through tradition, SAA hopes to provide students with a maximum experience. We want students to love every aspect of school so that they are willing to come back as alumni,” she said.
The 100 student volunteers who run SAA work throughout the year to prepare and organize each of these activities. Students who are interested in becoming involved in SAA should attend the informational meeting during week 1. There is an application and interview process in order to select the 100 student volunteers.
“SAA is a very professional student organization,” Zabat-Fran said. “It forces you to really learn what it is going to be like in the real world because you are working with people in the real world.”