Young Alumni Resources

One of the major benefits of attending a school like Macalester is a lifelong connection to a tight-knit alumni community that wants to help – and especially wants to help your class. All you need to do is ask. Here are a few ways to connect with the larger alumni community.

MacConnect

MacConnect is the online alumni directory accessible only by members of the Macalester community. 

• Update your contact information. This will help us stay in touch with you, send information about events and other opportunities to connect in your area, and also help other alumni find you. Our information is only as good as what is shared with us by alumni.
• Use the search function. You can search for alumni based on location, industry, employer, occupation, major, student activities, and more. Try searching for alumni with your major who work in a field in which you’re interested, or alumni in your city. 
• Find Career Helpers. Over 1,500 alumni have raised their hands in MacConnect to be a Career Helper – meaning that they want other alumni to reach out to them for networking, advice, and insights. You can filter results in MacConnect to include only Career Helpers, and you’ll know that every alum who shows up is waiting to hear from you.
• Reach out. The main complaint we hear from Career Helpers is that no one has reached out to them! They want to help. Please don’t be shy about sending an email or message in MacConnect and asking for an informational interview.

Join yMac

yMac, or young Macalester Alumni Connect, is a vibrant alumni-driven Facebook group with over 3,900 members and an average of 30 posts a month. Young alumni – defined as those who graduated in the past ten years – use this space to share information about jobs, housing, grad school, and more. The yMac steering committee, a group of young alumni volunteers who span class years and the nation, organize ongoing engagement, events, and connections for young alumni. 

• yMac has also organized in person and virtual gatherings for young alumni. Those are currently paused, but will be returning in the future. Please make sure we have your correct email and street address in order to send the appropriate invitations!

Alumni Chapters & Groups

Alumni chapters are volunteer-driven committees who plan and organize connections based on location. We currently have active chapters in Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Cyprus, Los Angeles, London, New Orleans, New York City, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. Chapters traditionally organize annual Mac in Your City gatherings, which are held around the world (and online) in the fall. 

There are also alumni networks based on shared identities: the Alumni of Color Collective, Scots Pride (LGBTQIA+ alumni), and I’m First @Mac (first gen graduates).

Come back for Reunion

All alumni are invited back for Reunion, June 6-9, 2024. You can find more Reunion information here.

Access Free Alumni Resources

The college provides the following resources for graduates for free.

• Career Exploration Services – for your first five years out, Mac alumni can receive comprehensive services from Career Exploration, including appointments with career counselors, resume reviews, job search assistance, and access to Handshake, the career services platform. 
• JSTOR Access – JSTOR is the largest archival collection of scholarly journals. With over 1,000 journals it is considered an important resource for academics. JSTOR covers most subjects, and includes materials from as far back as the 1700s. While JSTOR primarily provides access to archival journal content, you will have access to current content for a limited number of titles. For most journals, however, the embargo is five years. Please note that you must access JSTOR via MacConnect in order to be recognized as an authorized user. 
• Project Muse – Project Muse provides full-text and archival journal articles in the humanities and social sciences. Coverage includes literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics and more. Please note that you must access Project Muse via MacConnect in order to be recognized as an authorized user. 
• Free Auditing of Mac Courses – Macalester graduates may register for courses for credit during the registration period at the beginning of each term. Permission of the instructor is required to register for each course. Registration information and class schedules are available through the Registrar’s Office.