The “kids” your friends hate managing will soon be your major donors

they (we) may annoy you, but you’re counting on us

I’m getting old…well, older. As I push into my later 30’s I’m noticing a disturbing trend: more people I know are beginning to be put in charge of things. That is a startling revelation for a self described “elder statesmen millennial.” I just make the generational cut-off for being a member of the largest and arguably the most despised generation in history…until GenZ came along.

You don’t have to search hard for an opinion on why “kids these days” are the most entitled, bratty, soft, and overly emotional creatures to ever inhabit this planet. Yet, many of these crusaders fighting for “the good ‘ole days” make the mistake of grouping millennials and GenZ, aka “iGen” together as one abhorrent mass of adolescence. In fact, millennials have been in the workforce since the early 2000’s and GenZ, those born after 1995, started enraging their bosses just a few years ago. That presents a horrifying realization for higher ed advancement: they’re all alumni now.

Generally speaking, I’m not one to apologize for what I believe in. Perhaps the greatest example of this is my thirty-year devotion to the Buffalo Bills football franchise. This is a team whose “glory years” were defined by historic defeat, while the last 20 years have featured only ONE playoff appearance. But, I continue to Bill-eve. It was during a…