CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Over a dozen Marshall alumni were joined by university officials Thursday evening at the Ruffner House in Charleston for the official launch of the Kanawha Valley Alumni Chapter.

Chapter President Melanie Pagliaro said the group has been meeting quietly for over a year, but they just hadn’t held a formal launch event until now.

She said she worked with Marshall’s Vice President for Alumni Relations, Matt James, and Director of Alumni Relations, Walker Tatum, to organize the event.

Pagliaro explained this was months in the making.

“Over the past several months, we’ve reached out to people and try to say hey if you’re in the Kanawha Valley, we’re getting a chapter together, please come and join us,” she said. “We want to do things locally and give back to the university and have fun doing it.”

Those in attendance were able to enjoy food, drinks, and participate in seven silent auctions if they chose too. They also heard from MU’s Athletic Director Gerald Harrison and Board of Governor member Rusty Webb.

James said the chapter is important because it helps bring more people into the Marshall alumni community, ensuring they stay engaged and give back

“Really been focusing on how we can cultivate and grow our alumni chapter network, they’re really the foundation of everything we’re doing, especially as we’re supporting President Brad Smith’s Marshall for All, Marshall Forever vision, and so at the core of that is bringing more people under the Marshall tent,” he said.

James said he’s been in the position for three years, during which time they’ve been able to triple the number of active chapters — growing from nine to 31, with seven more currently in development.

Tatum said the most exciting part is knowing there are so many alumni they’ve met who want to give back to the university.

“Is just to know that everyone sees the work that we’re doing in alumni relations and that working in the alumni office we’ve had the opportunity to be that outlet for these types of people who are wanting to give back but may not really know how to approach it or go about it so it’s just a lot of fun overall and I feel like the skies the limit,” he said.

Pagliaro said the chapter plans to give back to the university’s food pantry this fall and will support Community Cares Week in the spring. She added that they also intend to partner with Fife Street Brewing in the future, as the owners are Marshall alumni.

She said the turnout for the event was incredible.

“We didn’t know how many we we’re going to have and we’re very blessed to have folks from Marshall up here, the new athletic director, excited to have, and it’s a great event and from here it’s just going to get better,” Pagliaro said.

She encourages alumni who aren’t involved to join the chapter.

“We want everybody, so if you’re in the Kanawha Valley area just please reach out, we’ll put you on our email list, and when you can join us we love to have you, we understand life is busy and you can’t always do that but we want to keep you in the loop and what’s going on,” Pagliaro said.

She said the group meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. and explained that, while they don’t currently have a permanent meeting location, they are working on securing one.

For updates on the chapter and upcoming events follow their Marshall University Kanawha Valley Alumni Chapter on Facebook.