The Gator2Gator Network at Work in Pittsburgh

The Allegheny College campus

Allegheny College’s alumni network is more than a list of names. In Pittsburgh, it’s a working web of mentors, employers and advocates that helps students land jobs, former students find new paths and graduates stay connected long after they hang up their graduation caps.

The college’s approach is intentional, said Sara Pineo, assistant vice president for institutional advancement. Five years ago, Allegheny moved its Center for Career and Professional Development under the institutional advancement umbrella to put relationship-building at the center of the work. “Our strength is really in our people,” Pineo said. “It’s a part of our culture and how we educate through our personal mentorship and individualized attention that our students receive.”

Pittsburgh Connections at Work

That philosophy shows up in the Gator2Gator alumni network, a name meant to reflect person-to-person connection. Allegheny has 25,000 alumni. More than 5,000 live within 25 miles of Pittsburgh, giving the school a deep local presence that reaches far beyond campus. Pineo said alumni regularly mentor students, join classroom events and show up at homecoming and other gatherings to keep the cycle going.

The Pittsburgh region is where that network is easiest to see. Pineo pointed to a Pittsburgh-focused career fair in Cranberry, where Allegheny connected students with 20 to 25 employers, many tied to alumni. In one example, a senior met an employer through the fair, landed an opportunity and later returned to represent that same employer the next year. Pineo called it “a perfect example of the culture we’re fostering.”

Allegheny’s First-Destination Survey backs up that kind of impact. Pineo said more than half of the Class of 2025 reported that alumni helped as they thought about career outcomes. In the last two years, more than 150 alumni were named as a touchpoint for help. For the Classes of 2024 and 2025, 98% of graduates landed in professional or graduate school, in a first job tied to their career path or in a paid service, such as the military, within six months of graduation.

“We’re not trying to create a one-size-fits-all shop here,” she said, adding that some students need internships while others, like chemistry majors, may need research funding or other support. That flexibility, she said, is part of what makes the model distinctive.

Building on the Gator2Gator Network

For three Allegheny alumni at Pittsburgh creative agency Oyster Creative, the network became a hiring pipeline and a source of trust. Dan Ayer, co-founder of the firm, said the school’s culture shaped his career from the start. “I felt like I was graduating with a community of people who wanted to see me succeed going forward,” he said.

That sense of belonging has stayed with him as he’s built a business in Pittsburgh. “I can say without question that both the team that we have here and the clients we have here would not exist without that alumni network,” Ayer said. He added that Allegheny graduates are “well-rounded because they learned how to learn, not just how to memorize information.”

Oyster Creative Co. was started by a Allegheny College alumnus, and now two more alumni work there.

Cecily Milligan, director of storytelling at Oyster Creative, said she connected with Ayer on LinkedIn because of the shared Allegheny connection. “When I meet another Allegheny alumnus, there’s an understanding of having that passion for community,” she said. That shared background helped her move into a role that values curiosity, collaboration and creativity.

Lindsay Baase, social media specialist at Oyster Creative, said the alumni bond opened a door when she was job hunting. “I was applying to all these jobs and not getting any responses,” she said. Then she applied to Oyster, and Ayer replied within 30 minutes from his personal email. “When Dan responded, he told me he loved to see a fellow Gator in marketing,” Baase said.

The Allegheny College Gator2Gator Network is both strong and active.

Mentorship and Career Growth

Pineo said alumni matter because they bring real-world perspective to students who are preparing for work that changes quickly. “They’re the experts in the world of how to be prepared for the fields they’re in,” she said. Alumni also help students build soft skills, which Pineo called the kind of abilities that carry a person through a first job and into future advancement.

That idea carries weight at Oyster Creative, where Ayer said creative work demands adaptability. “Sometimes clients cut down your first brilliant idea, so it’s important to find people who know how to think and come up with solutions when that happens,” he said. He said the liberal arts education at Allegheny prepares graduates for that kind of work because it teaches them how to think on their feet.

The network also stays active after graduation. Baase said she now sends internship information back to Allegheny and attends career fairs to meet students in a more natural setting. Ayer said he never turns down a coffee or networking chat with an Allegheny person. “For a small school, you have an unbelievable network,” he said. “They’re invested in helping you succeed, and that’s not necessarily true in many other places.”

The Allegheny College campus

A Network That Pays Forward

What stands out in these stories is how often Allegheny connections come full circle. Students become alumni, alumni become mentors or employers, and some alumni return as clients, colleagues or business partners in Pittsburgh. Pineo said that is the point of the college’s approach.

“We’ve been investing in these relationships since day one,” Pineo said. For Allegheny, the alumni network is not a distant benefit tucked away in a database. It’s a living system of support that helps shape careers, strengthen local businesses and keep the Gator-to-Gator bond strong in Pittsburgh.

Contact admissions@allegheny.edu, call 800-521-5293, or visit www.allegheny.edu for more information.