About Us
The Brandeis Beacons were founded in the fall of 2014 through a partnership between the divisions of institutional advancement and students and enrollment (now student affairs) in the hope of bringing together a group of exemplary Brandeis students who would be champions of the university through their school pride, on-campus leadership and openness to forging connections between the student and alumni communities.
Building upon the model of an earlier group of student ambassadors — the Future Alumni of Brandeis (FAB), which acted as the student-chaired arm of the Brandeis Alumni Association — the Beacons were established as a student group with a twofold mission. They embraced FAB’s goal of building lasting relationships between the student body and alumni through networking, educational and social programs, while also focusing on fostering Brandeis pride and spirit through new or co-sponsored events and initiatives.
To those ends, the Beacons have developed marquee events that center on alumni engagement, social life and wellness, and philanthropic support.
Beyond their marquee events, the Beacons have been engaged in many other ways over the years. They’ve been part of the Brandeis Leadership Summit, hosted visiting alumni speakers, served on student panels, rallied the crowd at featured athletic events and helped encourage supporting Brandeis on Giving Tuesday.
Individual Beacons have been the student representatives to the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Board, the director of Brandeis Kindness Day, Senior Class Gift committee members, first-year student orientation leaders, Student Union members (including the 2018-19 president), Alumni Weekend coordinators, admissions tour guides, phonathon callers and many other leadership roles on campus.
In other words, by being the many faces of Brandeis, the Beacons aspire to be the face of Brandeis!
Membership in the Beacons includes students from all four undergraduate classes. Beacons Honors awards were established in 2017-18 to recognize a handful of “Worker Beas” who went above and beyond their roles as Beacons. All graduating senior Beacons are presented with a Brandeis blue honor cord, to be worn over their commencement robes. The Beacons are celebrating their sixth anniversary in 2019-20 and plan to continue their work as Brandeis’ student ambassadors and spirit-leaders.