The Erasmus Alumni Club was started in 1913 to support the Erasmus University (and its predecessors) and offers alumni, since 1926, the ability to maintain their connection with their university and their co-alumni.
What is the purpose of the Erasmus Alumni Club?
Our club’s aim remains as it was 95 years ago: to improve the quality of life of alumni from the Erasmus University, and to support the Erasmus University itself.
How do we pursue this goal?
Our strategy has two levels to it: individual and collective.
We provide opportunities for individual alumni to develop themselves and to maintain and deepen their connection to the Erasmus University and their student life. We organise events to share knowledge about current topics from academic perspectives, and we send a monthly newsletter and a yearly magazine about the Erasmus University. New members can also eternalise their autograph in the Erasmus Signature Wall for free, to link themselves with the university.
On the collective level, our club strengthens networks and supports the Erasmus. Our members shape a wonderful group of graduates that includes people with diverse positions in society and a wealth of experiences. Only members of our club have access to the full network. Friendships and partnerships can be conceived in a fun, personal way during one of our events. Members can also partake in one of the specific interest groups – the circles – for more connection and interaction.
At the moment we strive to increase our membership count as much as possible, so our fund (the Erasmus Alumni Fund) may grow. Thus, a part of our members’ yearly contribution can financially support the Erasmus University.
Why do we do what we do?
The Erasmus Alumni Club was initiated by students, with students, and for students. Back in 1926 alumni already understood the value of connections, between graduates themselves and between alumni and their university. Knowing that these connections may result in friendships, partnerships and memories, our club has grown over time into a platform where making and maintaining such connections is made easier and fun. Our club has become a diverse community of alumni that wish the best for each other and for their shared Alma Mater. And we wholeheartedly agree.
What does a membership at the Erasmus Alumni Club include?
At the Erasmus Alumni Club you enter an extensive and impactful network where you can make new friendships and maintain old connections. You’ll receive free entry to all our events and strengthen your bond with the Erasmus University. Depending on your age and whether you want to join a circle, yearly contribution lies between €30 and €150. What does our membership look like?
Firstly, as member of our club you’ll plant your feet within a network of people from different positions. There’s CEO’s, professors, consultants, entrepreneurs, PhD-graduates and more; an existing network you will solely gain access to as a member on the Erasmus Alumni Club website. You can make new friendships with like-minded people from your study or from a study that interested you; perhaps you’ll gain friendships you missed out on while at university. In our club you can also more easily maintain your study-contacts and help other alumni by sharing your experience.
Our members gain free access to four yearly-recurring events: the closing of the academic year (a lecture in September where two speakers with scientific backgrounds discuss a recent topic), Desideriusday (a lecture followed by a dinner in October, commemorating the birthday of Desiderius Erasmus), the new years social drink in January, and the Erasmus Alumni Club Days in May, which includes social, educational and cultural activities in Rotterdam and on the university campus.
As part of this club you’ll also maintain your connection with your Alma Mater. Perhaps student life was as magical, adventurous and stimulating to you as it was to others. If you wish to keep the connection with that part of your past alive, however, you have to do something for that, and the longer you wait, the weaker your connection becomes. Many other alumni found in the Erasmus Alumni Club the possibility to not only keep that connection alive, but to re-experience it in a different way. By becoming a member you also help us support the Erasmus University (like our fund has been doing for many years). We’ll also keep you up-to-date with the state of being and changes happening at the Erasmus through a monthly newsletter and a yearly magazine.
On top of that you’ll also get a discount for courses of the Levenslang Leren (Lifelong Learning) initiative of the Erasmus Academy. And also make sure you don’t miss out on getting your signature on the Erasmus Signature Wall – this normally costs €35, but if you become a member of the Alumni Club you’ll get your signature for free! Click here to become a member.