One of the least pleasant parts of my job is answering the webmaster email. There’s so much spam and angry people to get through and I know that it’s not good for me – but sometimes there are good messages too.
I got a note a couple weeks ago from a father who had two daughters that had had both graduated from UA – one just this past spring. His third, oldest daughter, was developmentally disabled and was so proud and excited for her sisters and their college success.
He asked if we could make up some kind of fake diploma for her and said it would mean a lot to her.
I considered sending it to the Office of the Registrar, but figured they would be bound by the rules and not be allowed to produce some kind of document like this.
So, I instead sent this over to our social media guru – figuring that if anyone could make this fun thing happen, it would be her.
She was delighted with the request and ran with it – and today, I got a great update from her.
The alumni office agreed to make this guy’s daughter an Honorary Alumni of The University of Akron and are going to hold a special event for her and present her with a certificate.
How awesome is that? That young woman is going to be bursting with pride that day – I can’t even imagine her delight.
So, some days the email is terrible and crap – and some days, it can be wonderful.