Help & FAQ

Alumni Champions are Belmont graduates who want to stay connected and give back. As a Champion, you can find fellow alumni, host events, share stories, and be part of a thriving Bruin community—no matter where you are.

After signing up, our team matches your account to your alumni record using your email, name, and graduation year. Once verified, you'll receive an email confirmation and gain full access to the Champion Portal. If you signed up with Google, verification is usually faster.

Email Verified means we've confirmed you own your email address (this happens automatically when you click the link in your welcome email). Champion Verified means our team has matched your account to your Belmont alumni record. You need both to access the full portal.

Most verifications are completed within 1-2 business days. If there's any difficulty matching your account (for example, if your email changed since graduation), our team will reach out to help. You can speed things up by using the same email Belmont has on file.

Click your name in the top navigation, then select 'Profile' from the dropdown. From there, you can update your photo, location, career information, and more. Don't forget to click 'Save Changes' at the bottom!

Your profile visibility depends on your privacy settings (found in Settings → Privacy). Your name, photo, city, and graduation year are visible to all verified Champions. Contact information (email, phone) visibility is controlled by your privacy settings—you can set them to 'Everyone,' 'Champions in My District,' or 'Nobody.'

You have separate privacy controls for your email and phone number, found in Settings. For each, you can choose: (1) Everyone—visible to all Champions, (2) Champions in My District—only visible to Champions in your geographic region, or (3) Nobody—completely hidden. Your basic info (name, city, photo) is always visible to verified Champions so they can find and connect with you.

Go to your Profile page, then click the camera icon or 'Edit Photo' button. You can drag and drop an image, paste from clipboard, or click to browse your files. We support JPG, PNG, GIF, and WebP formats up to 10MB. We recommend a friendly, recent photo where your face is clearly visible—it helps other Champions recognize you!

Click 'Directory' in the navigation to browse all verified Champions. Use the search bar to find people by name, or use the filters to narrow by district (city), graduation year, or college. Results update instantly as you type or change filters.

Some Champions have set their contact information to private. You'll always see their name, photo, city, and graduation info, but email and phone visibility depends on their privacy settings. If you can't see someone's contact info, use the 'Send Message' button to reach out through the portal.

In the Directory, look for the filter options at the top. You can filter by District (city), Graduation Year Range, and College. Select any combination to narrow your results. Click 'Clear' to reset filters.

News posts appear on your Dashboard and in the News section. Posts are targeted to your communities—you'll see announcements relevant to your district, college, and affiliations. Look for the 'News' link in the navigation.

Currently, events are submitted through the Engagement Team. If you want to host a local meetup or event, contact alumni@belmont.edu with your event details (date, time, location, description). We're working on self-service event submission for the future!

When viewing an event, click the 'RSVP' button to go to an external site. Your RSVP helps organizers plan and lets other attendees know who's coming.

Yes! In the Events section, you can toggle between upcoming and past events using the filter at the top of the page.

From any Champion's profile, click the 'Send Message' button. Type your message and hit 'Send.' They'll receive an email notification (if they have notifications turned on) and can reply through the portal. All your conversations are saved in the 'Messages' section.

Yes! You can add emoji reactions to any message in a conversation. Click the reaction icon next to a message to add or remove a reaction. It's a great way to acknowledge messages without sending a full reply.

By default, you'll receive an email notification whenever someone sends you a message. You can change your notification preferences in Settings → Notifications. Choose 'Immediate' (get notified right away), 'Daily Digest' (one summary email per day), 'Weekly Digest' (one summary per week), or 'Off' (check the portal manually).

Some Champions have chosen to limit who can message them. If you don't see a 'Send Message' button on someone's profile, they may have set their messaging privacy to 'District Only' (and you're in a different district) or 'Nobody.' You can still add them as a contact if their email privacy allows it.

When you visit the Directory without searching or filtering, we show you Champions you might want to connect with based on shared attributes—same college, major, graduation year, industry, location, or interests. It's a great way to find Bruins with similar backgrounds!

Each recommendation shows badges explaining why that Champion was suggested—like 'Same college,' 'Same major,' or 'In your area.' The more complete your profile, the better recommendations you'll see.

Complete your profile! Add your employer, industry, affinities, and make sure your graduation year and college are linked. Champions with more profile information get more relevant recommendations.

Recommendations appear on the Directory when you're not searching or filtering. If you still don't see them, it might be because your profile needs more information (we need at least 50% complete), or there simply aren't many Champions with similar backgrounds yet. As more Champions join, your recommendations will improve!

Contacts are Champions you want to keep track of. When you add someone as a contact, you can quickly find them in your Contacts list. They'll receive a notification that you added them, which can be a great conversation starter!

Click the user icon button on any Champion's profile card (in the directory), profile page, or message thread. The icon changes to a solid fill when they're a contact, and shows an amber highlight if you've both added each other.

When you add someone as a contact AND they add you back, you become mutual contacts. This is shown by an amber/gold highlight on the contact icon. It's like a LinkedIn connection—both people have expressed interest in staying connected.

Adding someone as a contact doesn't change messaging permissions—those are controlled by each person's privacy settings. However, having someone as a contact makes it easy to find them when you want to start a new conversation.

Click 'Contacts' in the navigation menu to see everyone you've added. You can search your contacts by name. The list shows mutual contacts with an amber indicator so you can see who has also added you.

Click the contact icon (filled user) on any Champion's profile or card. Clicking it again will remove them from your contacts. They won't be notified when you remove them.

The contact button respects privacy settings. If someone has set their email visibility to 'Nobody' or 'District Only' (and you're not in their district), you won't see the contact button. This protects Champions who prefer more privacy.

Click your name in the top navigation and select 'Settings' from the dropdown. Settings are organized into sections: Account (email, password), Connected Accounts (Google sign-in), Notifications (email preferences), and Privacy (who sees your contact info).

Go to Settings → Account → Change Email Address. Enter your new email and click 'Update Email.' You'll receive a confirmation link at the new address—click it to complete the change. Until you confirm, your old email remains active.

Go to Settings → Connected Accounts. If you're not connected, click 'Connect Google' and authorize with your Google account. To disconnect, click 'Disconnect' (you'll need a password set first if it's your only sign-in method).

Go to Settings → Account → Change Password (this option only appears if you signed up with email, not Google). Enter your current password, then your new password twice. Click 'Update Password' to save.

Go to Settings → Account → Delete My Account. This hides your profile from the directory and sets all privacy settings to maximum. To fully remove your data from our systems, email alumni@belmont.edu. We take privacy seriously and will process your request within 5 business days.

Communities are groups of Champions with something in common—your city (district), college, major, or shared affinity like a fraternity/sorority or student organization. You automatically belong to communities based on your profile information.

Your communities appear on your Dashboard and Profile. Each community shows how many Champions are members. As we add more features, you'll be able to interact with your communities through discussion boards and targeted events.

Some communities (like your college and graduation year) are set automatically based on your alumni record. Others, like affinities and interests, can be added in your Profile. We're expanding community features over time!

The Champion Portal is a professional, welcoming community. Please be respectful, inclusive, and authentic. No spam, no harassment, no impersonation. Keep conversations relevant to the Belmont community. If you're promoting a business opportunity, make sure it's genuinely helpful and not pushy. We're all Bruins here—treat each other accordingly.

If you see a post, comment, message, or profile that violates community guidelines, click the flag icon on the content to report it. Our community leaders review reports and take appropriate action. For urgent concerns, email alumni@belmont.edu.

First-time minor violations usually result in a warning and content removal. Repeated violations or serious misconduct (harassment, impersonation, spam) may lead to account suspension or permanent removal. We prefer education over punishment, but we will protect the community when needed.

Discussion boards are community forums where Champions can post questions, share ideas, and have conversations. Each community has its own discussion board. It's a great way to connect with fellow Bruins beyond one-on-one messaging.

Go to a community's Discussions tab (or click 'Discussions' in the navigation), then click 'Start a Discussion.' Give your post a title (up to 100 characters) and write your message. You can format text with bold, italic, bullets, and links. Click 'Post' when ready.

Click on any discussion post to view it, then scroll to the comments section. Type your reply in the comment box and click 'Reply.' You can also reply directly to another comment to create a threaded conversation.

Yes! You can edit your posts and comments within 30 minutes of posting—look for the pencil icon. After 30 minutes, editing is disabled to preserve conversation context. You can delete your own content at any time using the trash icon.

A locked discussion means no new comments can be added. Community leaders may lock discussions that have run their course or become off-topic. You can still read and react to locked posts.

Pinned discussions stay at the top of the board, regardless of activity. Community leaders pin important announcements or resources so they're easy to find.

You can add emoji reactions to posts and comments—click the reaction button to choose an emoji. Reactions are a lightweight way to engage without writing a full reply. Everyone can see who reacted.

Great discussion topics include: asking for advice, sharing professional news, recommending local businesses, discussing Belmont memories, asking 'who else remembers...' questions, and sharing opportunities that might interest fellow alumni. Keep it relevant, respectful, and Bruin-focused!

Avoid: promotional spam, political debates, controversial topics that divide rather than unite, personal attacks, and anything you wouldn't say at a Belmont alumni event. When in doubt, ask yourself: 'Would I be proud to have my name on this?'