UAPB National Alumni Association

Letter from the President

UAPB “Everyday!” Yes, UAPB “Everyday!” That is the vision being amplified by the Board of Directors of the UAPB/AM&N National Alumni Association and me. I want the alumni to appreciate, believe, and commit to UAPB “Everyday!” In 2023, this began with the UAPB 365 Campaign, where I first challenged the National Alumni Board to recruit 365 new alumni members and later extended the challenge to all alumni members via our social media platforms. And we will achieve this goal of UAPB 365 through SERVICE and SUPPORT throughout this administration.

As the Association, we are our first customers. We should be in service to and with each other by attending and participating in alumni meetings, conferences, and special emphasis events. No longer can we afford to simply wait on our alumni to join the local chapters or the Association, but we must invite and encourage them to join this wondrous band and implement ways for all alumni to participate. We must support all alumni activities, our University, our students, and our communities. We seek your support through various fundraising activities at the local chapter and Association levels. Immediate ways to support the Association include increasing the number of alumni memberships (local and national), donating to the Dire Need Student Financial Request Fund, the Alumni Center Capital Campaign, and advocating for the University.

Since graduating in May 1997, I have worked diligently in service and support to “Dear Mother” as a member of the Greater Kansas City Alumni Chapter (2007-present), as an elected and appointed member of the National Alumni Association’s Board of Directors (2012-19, 2022-present), and as a former Miss Alumni Queen in 2011 (raised over $37,000). Having a passion for recruitment and retention of both UAPB students and alumni members, has afforded me the privilege to interact and network with generations of alumni who range from legacy Golden Lions to first generation college graduates of Arkansas Agricultural Mechanical and Normal College and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

As I credit “Dear Mother” and her children with playing an important role in my personal, professional, and social development, I’m sure I share this same sentiment with many of you. Professionally, I am a Program Director for a Head Start Program. Socially, I am the Chapter President for the Greater Kansas City Alumni Chapter, and an active member of the Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated where I’ve served on all levels of both organizations. Yet my absolute FAVORITE duty include being a mother to an equally active 10-year-old little girl (Brennyn Grey) that swears she is ALREADY a Golden Lion!

So please join me and the Association in our efforts to say yes to UAPB “Everyday!”

In Service and Support,

Tanesha Washington Thompson
President and Chair