It would be nice to have the greatest alumni on earth in addition to the greatest homecoming on earth.

So I ask, where can I find my true alumni? And I do not mean the alum that come back for homecoming, wear the paraphernalia and scream ‘Aggie Pride’ at the top of their lungs. I’m talking about the alumni who come back and actually support A&T, not just homecoming.

How can you call yourself a “proud” alumnus while you sit and do nothing to support your alma mater? Too many of our alumni come back and support Nxlevel harder than they support A&T. This is a problem.

While our school struggles with financial issues, academic problems, unsatisfactory health centers and a lack of campus security, most of our alumni refuse to donate a dime to help fix these problems.

I have heard too many alumni say “I refuse to come back to Greensboro after I graduate.” Why not give back to the place that helped you gain your education? Why do you feel it is okay to turn your back on the future of your university?

Not only is this thought process ignorant, but also it is selfish to think that a university, especially a HBCU, will survive without alumni support.

The city of Greensboro makes roughly $12 million off of our homecoming every year. And it is a crying shame that our alumni do not put this much thought and money into their university every year.

With numbers like this, there is absolutely no excuse for A&T to even have to ask for a dime from their alumni. If you can willfully give money for parties and alcohol, then you can willful give back to the education of the students at this university.

Because while the ABC Store, Nxlevel, Wal-Mart, Summit Avenue and other Greensboro businesses thrive, A&T continues to struggle to stay academically and financially competitive.  One of the reasons this is the case is because our alumni graduate and fail to do their duties as Aggies.

Alumni or not, you are not a true Aggie if you refuse to give back to your university. And this does not just mean financially. There are plenty of ways to give back to your alma mater without spending money.

Aggie Pride is not just something we chant at every game and every social event. Aggie Pride lives on 365 days a year. Yet many of the alumni with the A&T bumper stickers, hats, banners and sweaters are too busy asking what A&T can do for them, oppose to asking what they can do for A&T!

Because if you can go out and spend $150 on alcohol, $200 on a hotel room, $175 for a new outfit for the weekend, $35 for a football game that we are clearly going to lose, $50 for parties and $15 for a haircut, or $70 for a female to get her hair done for homecoming, then I feel that it will not break your pockets to donate AT LEAST $10 back to your university every year.

And spare me the excuse of financial reasons. You can donate money, however; you can also donate your time.

Come back and see what is going on around this campus. This is your legacy, why not come back and make sure your legacy is in good standings?

This does not go out to all of our alumni. Many of you actually have come back and donated time and money in making this university that much better. However, from one Aggie to another, I would like to let a lot of you know that you have completely forgot about what it means to be an Aggie.

So this year for homecoming, after the game and the parties are all over, take the time to see what’s really going on with your university outside of just homecoming.

A&T has students that are destined for greatness much like the A&T Four, Jesse Jackson and Ronald McNair. However, without the support of our alumni, then perhaps A&T’s better days are far behind us.

Keep this in mind when celebrating homecoming this year. Because if our alumni continue to not support the university, then perhaps we will not have a homecoming to come back to in the future.

• TRUMAINE MCCASKILL