In January, Matt Real moved across the street from Bellarmine’s Career Development Center, which he had led for eight years, to Allen Hall, where he is the new Executive Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations. Before coming to Bellarmine, he worked in employer relations and career development at the University of Louisville.   In his new role, Real is responsible for developing and implementing strategic initiatives to engage, support and enhance Bellarmine’s connection to alumni. The job requires a combination of leadership, communication, event-planning, fundraising and relationship-building skills, he said, “amplified by a deep passion for our shared mission and values and an understanding of the unique academic and experiential learning that happens on campus and in the community.” In his spare time, Real is often on the hunt for older, rare soul and rock & roll 45 rpm records to add to his large vinyl collection. Congratulations on your new position! What are you most looking forward to?  Thank you. I am honored and excited for the opportunity to lead the Alumni Association. I would describe myself as a strategic connector, story collector and Bellarmine believer, so what I am most looking forward to is the opportunity to meet, learn, understand and celebrate the distinctive experiences and special relationships alumni have with the university. Of course, I am also excited about creating memories at Trivia Knight, Alumni Weekend and Brew at BU, and the many exciting athletic events throughout the year. What a fun job!  How will your experience in Career Development inform your new role? Collectively, I have over 16 years of working in Career Services, and my experiences counseling, advising and guiding students through self-discovery, decision-making and career readiness will continue to inform my support of our over 27,000 alumni who are currently in the workforce. In addition, throughout my tenure in Career Development at Bellarmine, I have been able to build meaningful and lasting relationships with not only those eight graduating classes of young alumni (and many, many additional alumni), but also with employers, faculty, staff and community partners. Hearing students’ and employers’ needs and interests has provided me with a deep understanding of relationship dynamics, how to connect people to opportunity, design strategic experiential learning initiatives, guide conversation around purpose, develop personal narratives with intention, and focus energy on strengths and possibility. I’m confident that I can help support alumni by extending those relationships and designing distinctive programming that will provide them with a sense of meaningful connection to Bellarmine.  How can our alumni help you succeed?  Every alum I meet has such an interesting and personal story of what Bellarmine means to them, and I love hearing those stories. Success for Bellarmine in the future will be determined by how sustained our alumni support each other, current students and the university. So, alumni can help simply by finding their way to support Bellarmine. Attend a campus event, volunteer for a leadership position, bring a classmate to Alumni Reunion Weekend, register a team for Trivia Knight, cheer on our student-athletes, hire an intern, become a mentor, provide for student basic needs (food, clothes, transportation), give when and how you can, share your ideas, and wear Bellarmine with pride knowing you are part of an exclusive, caring and talented family of alumni. I hope you will reach out to connect at alumni@bellarmine.edu.