Alum of the month: Former Griffins WBB player Stevenson enjoying return to MacEwan in key alumni role
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Get Connected.
It's the theme of the MacEwan Alumni department's April campaign as they gear up for the university's 50th anniversary celebrations later this year.
It's a word that could also aptly describe the unique position that former MacEwan women's basketball player Michelle Stevenson has.
Amongst former Griffins student-athletes – a group numbering in the thousands that stretches back to the mid-70s – Stevenson is perhaps the most uniquely positioned of any of them to serve as a connection between the past, present and future.
A member of the Griffins women's basketball team in 1998-99, Stevenson now spearheads MacEwan's initiatives to engage alumni in her role as the university's Director of Alumni and Community Engagement.
"It's a great role to be in," said Stevenson. "To have been as a student-athlete made me even more connected and proud of the institution. To come back years later and walk the halls as an employee is a really unique experience. It's almost like joining a new version of the team.
"It's fun to connect with the familiar faces that you knew back on campus years ago."
Among those faces are former Griffins student-athletes, a lifelong family of old friends who often see each other out and about in the community.
"It is so interesting to see where people have gone or ended up, which is probably why I like my role at MacEwan so much," said Stevenson. "Our faculty do such a great job of developing students during the four or five years they're at MacEwan, but in my position, I'm lucky to see where students go after they graduate and recognize, champion and celebrate their accomplishments."
Stevenson's path from MacEwan student to staff member included a decade after graduation (in 2000 with University Transfer and Public Relations diplomas) spent furthering her education and beginning her career, working as Manager of Marketing at Norquest College and Sobey's Western Canada.
In 2010, she returned to MacEwan in a Community Engagement role before being promoted to her current position in 2015. She's been able to lean on her time as a student-athlete and connections made over the years to best learn how to serve the university's alumni.
"My friends and teammates look back at that time as special," said Stevenson. "It's got kind of a halo effect around it, I think, especially looking back now.
"I think this is a common feeling shared by MacEwan alumni. In my current role, I hear all the time about how MacEwan was a game changer for people – not just the education they received, but the people they met, the professors they had. There is a lot of goodwill out there about the institution. The athletes are proud to have played for MacEwan. They enjoyed their time here."
Michelle Stevenson, right, at a pre-pandemic alumni event with MacEwan Alumni Advisory Council member Josh Morris (Bachelor of Commerce, 2015), enjoys the many opportunities her role affords to connect with university alumni.
For her, being a member of the Griffins women's basketball team was a great experience.
The 1998-99 Griffins – coached by Wall of Distinction member Gerry Couzens – was talented across the board, finishing 17-3 before winning an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference bronze medal. Among Stevenson's teammates that season was one of the best players the program has ever had – Michelle Mackinnon – who scored the most ACAC career points in program history (1,267 over four seasons).
Stevenson has plenty of fond memories hanging out with teammates as they learned not only more about the game of basketball but also about the value of teamwork – such a key tenet in life.
"I think you just can't underestimate the value of team sports and being on a team," said Stevenson. "I really enjoyed being a member of the team working towards something together."
Sometimes that includes unforgettable lighter side moments, like the 1998 team photo shoot.
"We were taking photos for the game day program – it was a horrible team picture," recalled Stevenson with a chuckle. "I remember the day we took it. The photographer took individual pictures of each of us holding a basketball and he was down on the ground shooting up, so everyone looked like they had double chins in their photo. It was the most ridiculous shot."
For most Griffins student-athletes, random memories like that one stick with them throughout the years, fond recollections that endear them to their alma mater as much as big wins and championship banners do.
Stevenson notes the latest initiative of MacEwan's Alumni department is to connect with more alums in order to make them aware of the activities that will happen next fall as part of the university's 50th anniversary celebration.
"Our 50th anniversary is coming and as part of that we're going to have more alumni activities and exclusive alumni offers," she said. "So, we're doing a call out to all of our alumni to ask them to update their contact information so we can let them know about the anniversary activities that will be happening.
"We're calling it the 'Get Connected' campaign. It's about getting connected and staying connected to receive all of the alumni benefits and be a part of the community."
MacEwan's Get Connected campaign is encouraging alumni to update their contact information ahead of the university's 50th anniversary celebration.
For former Griffins student-athletes, the campaign also includes a letter from Alumni Advisory Council Representative and former men's hockey player Matthew Peddie.
"We can all be proud of how much MacEwan has grown, and of the valuable impact its alumni have had on communities near and far," reads the letter. "Our 50th anniversary is a significant occasion that not only allows us to reflect on how far we have come but provides a great opportunity for alumni to reconnect and celebrate our accomplishments."
Continuing to connect with alumni is a very rewarding part of the job for Stevenson.
"I think that MacEwan has done such a good job with our students that they really value the education they receive," she said. "It's an easy conversation to have with our alumni.
"We're smaller than some other institutions, so there's more of a sense of community, and it's always so interesting to learn what MacEwan means to each of our alumni and how our institution has helped play a part in shaping their lives and their careers.
"What I like the most is just hearing those stories and knowing that I work for that institution."
