The Alumni Association offers a number of events and activities to keep Winthrop alumni engaged throughout the year. Follow the Alumni Association on Facebook, Instagram (@winthropalumni) and Winthrop Connect for updates on alumni events!
Use one of the free digital Winthrop backgrounds for virtual events and wear your garnet and gold attire to show your Eagle pride for both in-person and virtual activities!
*All event times are Eastern unless otherwise noted.
"Birding to Change the World: A Memoir" by Trish O'Kane
Aug. 1-Oct. 3
The fourth book for the 2025 Virtual Alumni Book Club is "Birding to Change the World: A Memoir" by Trish O'Kane. In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment. Trish O’Kane never expected to be a birder. It was a lone red cardinal and a bumptious cast of house sparrows that changed everything for O’Kane after Hurricane Katrina shattered her life in New Orleans. Watching birds thrive throughout the devastated city became her salvation and set her on a new path. Soon O’Kane found herself pursuing an environmental science PhD in Wisconsin, where she became a full-on bird obsessive—logging hours and hours in a stunningly diverse urban park, filling field notebooks with observations of bird doings and dramas, and volunteering in a wildlife rehabilitation center bird nursery.
The reading period is Aug. 1-Oct. 3. Click here to read a summary and reviews for it. Join the Virtual Alumni Book Club by signing up at www.pbc.guru/winthrop.
"Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work" by David Isay
Oct. 11 - Dec. 13
The fifth book for the 2025 Virtual Alumni Book Club is "Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work" by David Isay and is also the 2025-2026 Common Book Project, which is a book selected that all incoming freshman read the summer before they enter Winthrop. Throughout their freshman year, students will discuss the book’s themes of purpose, vocation, and meaningful work. The book was selected in part to align with Winthrop’s Quality Enhancement Plan, "Flight Ready," which aims to integrate career readiness across the university curriculum.
StoryCorps founder Dave Isay presents unforgettable stories from people doing what they love. Some are paid well for their work, others not at all; some found their paths at a very young age, others later in life; many overcame great odds or upturned their lives in order to pursue what matters to them. These stories were collected over the past two years as part of a national outreach campaign, a first for StoryCorps, and most have never been published or broadcast until now.
The reading period is Oct. 11 - Dec. 13. Click here to read a summary and reviews for it. Join the Virtual Alumni Book Club by signing up at www.pbc.guru/winthrop.
Monday, August 25 | 11 a.m.
Byrnes Auditorium
One of Winthrop's best known traditions, Convocation began with founding president, David Bancroft Johnson, gathering the student body together to mark the beginning of the school year. Today, President Serna '02 convenes all members of the entering class for an official welcome. The Student Alumni Council will welcome students to the event and distribute the Garnet and Gold Book which serves as a guide to all of Winthrop's history and traditions!
At the close of Convocation, students participate in another treasured Winthrop tradition, the Blue Line, as the newest class of Eagles processes to front campus for a community picnic!
Tuesday, Sept. 9 | 10:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Are you looking for a job or considering changing careers? Winthrop University's Kappa Rho Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi invites you to Meet the Firms, a networking event connecting accounting, finance, economics and computer information students and recent graduates with various organizations. Participants include CPA firms, wealth management firms, banks, government agencies and relevant corporate departments (e.g., internal audit, accounting, tax, and finance).
Register via Handshake by Sunday, Sept. 7, to guarantee you will have a printed nametag and to see a list of the participating organizations. Follow these instructions to access Handshake. Contact careerdev@winthrop.edu if you encounter any Handshake issues.
Tuesday, Sept. 9 | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 10 | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
If you are a degree-holding alumnus, a current student who has completed 54 credit hours, or a graduate student who has completed at least 18 hours at Winthrop University, you are eligible to purchase the Official Winthrop Ring and other Winthrop jewelry! Stop by our table in the DiGiorgio Campus Center to speak with Jostens representatives about your options, get sized, and purchase your Official Winthrop Ring. You can get up to $150 off your ring when you order at the table!
The Student Alumni Council will welcome you at the table to provide more information about the Official Winthrop Ring and Fall Ring Ceremony.
"Birding to Change the World: A Memoir" by Trish O'Kane
Thursday, Sept. 18 | 2-3 p.m.
Zoom
Join the live author talk with Trish O’Kane on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. If you’ve been reading the fourth book for the 2025 Virtual Alumni Book Club, "Birding to Change the World: A Memoir" by Trish O'Kane, or even if you’ve just skimmed the first few chapters, you won’t want to miss this inspiring, uplifting conversation! Trish O'Kane is a writer and a senior lecturer in environmental justice at the University of Vermont, where avians are her teaching assistants. A former human rights journalist in Central America and the Deep South, she has written for the New York Times, Time and the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Burlington, VT, with her writer-husband, their dog and three chickens. Register here!
Program kicks off Monday, Sept. 29, 2025 and will run through Friday, March 27, 2026
Winthrop Connect (Virtual)
The I'm Ready program connects Winthrop alumni with current students for one-on-one mentoring focused on career readiness, networking, and personal growth. Through four structured micro-sessions across the academic year, mentors and mentees engage in meaningful conversations designed to build confidence and professional experiences.
If are interested in learning more about the I'm Ready program, contact Leah Simmonds '23, alumni career programs and Flight Ready QEP director, at simmondsl@winthrop.edu.
Tuesday, Oct. 7 | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 8 | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
If you are a degree-holding alumnus, a current student who has completed 54 credit hours, or a graduate student who has completed at least 18 hours at Winthrop University, you are eligible to purchase the Official Winthrop Ring and other Winthrop jewelry! Stop by our table in the DiGiorgio Campus Center to speak with Jostens representatives about your options, get sized, and purchase your Official Winthrop Ring. You can get up to $150 off your ring when you order at the table!
The Student Alumni Council will welcome you at the table to provide more information about the Official Winthrop Ring and Fall Ring Ceremony.
Thursday, Oct. 30 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 3-6 p.m.
Bookstore Commons, DiGiorgio Campus Center
Grad Finale is your one stop shop for all things Commencement! The Student Alumni Council and the Alumni Association invite December graduates to the Winthrop Bookstore where they receive information on graduation status, alumni benefits, and purchase class rings, graduation announcements and regalia. Campus departments at the event include Annual Giving, Career Development & Internships, Dacus Library, Graduate Studies, Jostens, Oak Hall, Records and Registration, Student Account Services, Technology Services, West Center and the Winthrop Alumni Association.
December 2025 graduates, be on the lookout for an e-mail with more details. Please reach out to Maggie McPherson, student and young alumni program coordinator, at mcphersonm@winthrop.edu with any questions.
Nov. 14-15
Make plans to come home to Winthrop for Homecoming and Reunion 2025, Nov. 14-15! From class reunions, campus tours, athletics events, lectures, tailgating and more – there will be something for everyone! Check out all the highlights from Homecoming and Reunion 2024 on the Alumni Association’s Facebook page and Instagram.
To ensure sure you are connected with Winthrop and receive Homecoming and Reunion information, share your updated contact information with the Alumni Association! Also, follow the Winthrop Alumni Association (@winthropalumni) on Facebook and Instagram to stay connected.
