Garrett Griffin
Walking into her office I immediately see several things that show pride and collegiate association, a rubber pig that is black-and-yellow striped, a small bee figurine and a diploma on the wall that reads “Master of Science” from Texas A&M – Texarkana. The little lady in a white lab-coat greeted me with familiarity and a sense of kindness that made the meeting all the more comfortable. First appearances were enough to tell me that Mrs. Jill Whittington was passionate about her collegiate connections. Speaking to her, I learned just how truly passionate she is about furthering the university by means of the alumni board. By joining your alumni organization not only does the university benefit, but you get something out of it yourself. As Mrs. Jill Whittington says, “There’s value in giving.”
Jill Whittington ( 2nd from right) and her friends are enjoying the Homecoming festivities outside the University Center during the Fall of 2014 semester.
When asked about her origins, Whittington spoke about her humble beginnings in rural West Virginia. I lived “just outside of Charleston and Huntington… everybody in my family lives within a 10-mile radius.” The first college she attended was Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. The reason she chose to go so far away to college, “was [she] knew when [she] was looking at schools [she] wanted to leave West Virginia. There’s not a whole lot of growth there and it’s just kind of a stagnant area.” Her aspiration for more than what she had drove her outside her childhood sphere. When she began looking for schools, she knew that she wanted to go into engineering. After choosing metallurgy as her area of study she went on to graduate from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Material Science and Engineering. Her first job after college was at the Alcoa aluminum plant in Knoxville, TN. She chose to work there because Georgia Tech had many professionals who worked there and could help her get her foot in the door. She and her husband “used to meet each other in Knoxville, Tennessee on the weekend and Alcoa [had] a large facility in Knoxville. And it just always made sense; it was a good middle spot.”
Whittington and her family transferred to the plant in Texarkana in 2004 where worked as an engineer. When I asked why she attended Texas A&M – Texarkana she said, “When we knew that Alcoa was starting a downhill slide, we could see it about a year before they announced the closing, I wanted to be sure that I had broadened my resume, my work experience and my education because metallurgy is such a limited option, so I started my MSBA (Master of Science in Business Administration) while Alcoa still had tuition reimbursement.” Using this program she got a few semesters paid for and went on to earn her Master of Science in Business Administration from the university.
The little Georgia Tech hog sits above Ms. Whittington’s Desk.
After being laid-off from Alcoa, Whittington took a position as the head of the local non-profit, Harvest Texarkana. When asked why this qualified her for her position on the alumni board she talked about the many years of dedication to such a cause. She said, “I have been on non-profit boards for 10 years in Texarkana; both as just a member and an officer. So I understand that there is a lot of responsibility in serving on a board. With the university, it’s not quite as important because the university handles a lot of the legalities and tax implications. A board is what runs a nonprofit.” In explaining what she learned from being the head of a non-profit she concluded, “I spent four years running a non-profit and having to work with boards and making sure they [understood] the responsibilities, to be sure that laws [were] being followed and financial policies [were] sound and (that) we [stuck] to what ever the mission of that particular non-profit [was].”
As an officer on the board for the Alumni Association, Whittington is in charge of promoting and growing the association from its humble beginnings. When asked why she enjoys being on the board she enthusiastically stated, “I’m enjoying working with it from the ground up .You know, a lot of the things happening at the university are new and (Georgia) Tech had such a rich history and tradition that I wanted to be at the beginning of that and to know that 50 years from now students might be learning about some new tradition or some activity or something silly. I would like to know how it started.”
Ms. Whittington stands in front of her one of her degrees that she received from Texas A&M – Texarkana.
She definitely has zest for the college scene and more so, the experience that comes from attending college. Stressing the importance of her children seeing what college is all about, she said, “when I vacation or when we, the family, [take] a trip I always, at least, swing through the campuses in town.” Whittington loves college and that translates over to her work here at Texas A&M University – Texarkana.
“I think it’s very important. I don’t think students necessarily realize it, but the Alumni have a pretty strong voice in the direction and changes in a university.” says Whittington. Her respect for the Alumni associations of universities is definitely of a high degree. Whittington says that Alumni always have a say in the university and its plans. “Often, that say is with the pocketbook: making donations and initial membership fees.” Another reason Whittington says students should join alumni is not just because it affects others for good but because the members get benefits themselves.
“For us to encourage the school to go from 1000 students to 5000 students, it get[s] [us] more name recognition, and that makes my degree more valuable and it makes your degree more valuable. So I think it’s important that we remember that by helping a little bit we are helping ourselves as well. There’s a value in giving.”