December 18, 2008

They Found Me!

Posted in Identification, life at 1:40 pm by Michael

It’s not like I’m hiding, but, WPI (My alma mater) found me.

About a month ago, the alumni mail from them started being addressed to “Ms. Megan Wallent”. I hadn’t told them of my name change (or other changes), but I was super curious how this happened.

The mysteries of life.

Then, I get the following email yesterday.

From: Steffanie C.
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:40 AM
To: Megan Wallent
Subject: Court Documentation..

Hello Megan,

Hope things are well with you and your family!

Would it be possible to send me a copy from the courts in your name change. We would like to have a copy for your folder here at WPI.

Thank you…

Steffanie C.
Biographical Records Assistant
Development Operations and Research
WPI
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609

Holy moly! How did they figure it out….

I replied:

From: Megan Wallent
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:46 AM
To: ‘Steffanie C.’
Subject: RE: Court Documentation..

Hi Steffanie –
Sure… here it is.

I’m curious though – how did you folks find out about my name change? I noticed that my mail from WPI changed about three months ago.

– Megan

This morning, the answer came through:

From: Steffanie C.
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 5:31 AM
To: Megan Wallent
Subject: RE: Court Documentation..

Dear Megan,

We contacted you because WPI has a Northern California alumni chapter that we are trying to increase in membership. That chapter has alumni who are employed at Microsoft. Our department was reviewing alumni with interesting top level titles to reconnect them with WPI.

Your title as General Manager at Microsoft inspired us to find out more about you as we do with any alum who has an interesting career. When we Googled your name combined with Microsoft, we found a webpage about your transgender. Since we found this information about your new name, we needed to verify it. This is why we contacted you as well as inviting you to contact Sara F, Associate Director of Alumni Relations in our Alumni Relations Department. She will be your best source for upcoming alumni events in your area. We hope that you are interested in learning more about new developments at WPI and the exciting initiatives led by President Berkey.

Regards,

Steffanie

Gold star for WPI on the sleuthing! I wonder how much of an “Alumni Gift” they are looking for!