Alumni United

VOL. 129 | NO. 216 | Wednesday, November 05, 2014

By background, Maria Lensing perhaps doesnt fit the expected parameters of someone quick to defend Memphis and eager to take on the challenge of revitalizing a local universitys alumni association.

She moved here from Lima, Peru, at age 14, when her family brought her little brother to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital for treatment of his leukemia. Now, at age 35, she is a vice president with AT&T and has a five-state territory that would allow her to live in Nashville or Atlanta or Miami, if that were her desire.

Maria Lensing is the inaugural chair of CBUnited, the rebranded alumni association at Christian Brothers University that is working to reconnect with the universitys graduates.

(Daily News/Andrew J. Breig)

But it isnt her desire, and the way she speaks on behalf of Memphis suggests that she will be a dynamic force in her role as the inaugural chair of Christian Brothers Universitys newly renamed/rebranded alumni association, CBUnited.

For example, she doesnt much care for the glitz of Miami not as a mother of two young sons hoping to instill values consistent with CBUs Lasallian tradition of a holistic education. And Nashville? Bring that up at your own risk.

Tell me, whats the big difference between Nashville and Memphis? she said. Youre more expensive and you have a couple of country stars.

Founded in Memphis in 1871 making it the oldest university founded in the city CBU has an enrollment of 1,600 students, and its 2014-15 freshmen class of 371 is the largest in its history.

A chief part of Lensings task is connect with lost alumni who might live blocks from the 75-acre wooded Midtown campus or on the other side of the world. Or in Miami, where Lensing recently had a business meeting with a man who turned out to be a CBU grad and one of those lost alumni.

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Alumni United

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