Higher education leaders are increasingly treating “belonging” as a retention and well-being lever, but one report argues that most institutions still end belonging-building at commencement. It says alumni networks often function primarily as advancement pipelines rather than sustained community supports. The piece frames alumni relationships as a continuity mechanism during the transition out of campus—when students can lose daily reinforcement of identity, support, and structure. It argues that belonging should be designed to evolve over time, not abruptly stop with graduation. The editorial positions alumni networks as an underutilized belonging infrastructure, aligning with broader student success goals around retention and postsecondary adjustment. For campus offices, the implication is operational: design alumni programming and connection pathways with the same intentionality typically reserved for first-year experience, not only for fundraising cycles.