16th general members meeting – a positive record

It was a difficult year due to the pandemic, but nevertheless a successful one, concluded the members present at the alumni association’s general meeting held online on 23 November. Several well-attended online events, a new chapter in India, and an increase in membership add up to a strong record for this year, the University's anniversary, in which our alumni were also more visible in Bremen media.

The alumni association now has 3,855 members – an overall gain thanks to new members joining in 2021. “That number falls short of our expectations, but compared to other associations struggling with membership losses during the pandemic, we are doing really well," said first deputy chairperson Ute Treptow, who presented the annual report.

What were the highlights of the past year? The survey on the “DNA” of Uni Bremen, in which 90 percent of the participating alumni rated their studies positively, and which was also the subject of a guest commentary in the Weser-Kurier. The awarding of the Campus Prize and the prize for the best doctoral supervision, around 30,000 euros awarded in funding, e.g. for Deutschlandstipendium scholarships, the historical theatre project "From the files to the stage" and the "Golden Plietsch", which honoured innovative business ideas. A new alumni chapter was founded in India and with the Bremen office co-organised an exciting online conference on sustainability held in November. And the first online talks in our event series “Just change the world", which are available on Uni Bremen’s YouTube channel, have already found a large audience. All in all, the alumni association was able to contribute a great deal to the University of Bremen’s 50th anniversary celebration – something the members at the general meeting were really quite pleased about.