So I just signed up to Linked In and have connected with some old friends, colleagues, etc. I requested a connection with the college I attended my freshman year, an all girls private school in MO, but later transferred. This is the email I received:
Stephens College wrote:
Christina,
Since you did not graduate from Stephens but would like to be part of the Stephens family, I ask that you donate $500 to the Stephens Annual Fund and I'll gladly accept your invitation to the Stephens Network. Please have Stephens send me an email confirming the donations.
Thank you,
Heather
I thought that was pretty shitty so I wrote a pretty shitty response back:
Hi Heather,
Although I did not graduate from Stephens, I really did enjoy my time there and had many pleasant memories. That said, I am absolutely flabbergasted that you recommend I donate $500 and UPON receipt of payment you will then let me in to your "club" a.k.a LinkedIn free networking website.
What is your last name? I am assuming you graduated in 1993? Does the college know that this is how you go about networking for them? Perhaps I should tell them?
OK so I know it was harsh but for real!!! Money for a LinkedIn site? I would have been more likely to give $ if I was in the network and they then asked for donations. I am glad I left!
And she's shooting herself in the foot. For all she knows, you could be signing up because you have fabulous jobs to hand out and you want to offer them to alums of that school.
Hey - What ever happened with that? I can't believe it. If she didn't respond, I would definitely tell the school. That is ridiculous. p.s. - kudos for using the word flabbergasted!
So I waited a week for her to respond. I then wrote to the college alumn president, college admissions office and copied her on my email. Here was the response:
Hi Christina,
I havent seen this before. I will let my boss know about it. I dont know if we can trace the email or not.
If you find out who this person is, let me know. Thank you for alerting us.