Approximately 40% of all living Boise State alumni have graduated in the last 10 years. This new generation of Broncos of the Last Decade (BOLD, for short) received its degrees during a revolution at the university in the variety and strength of its academic offerings, and its popularity and prestige. This huge cohort of alumni is already shaping Boise State and the communities where its members live. Just ask Alicia “Allie” Engberson (’11 and ’20), who along with her husband Geo (’09), sits on the board of the Boise State Alumni Association.
“These people who come to the university really care about moving forward, about putting value out into the world. We’re dedicated, caring, excited people who are looking to make a change,” she said.
Allie moved to Idaho from Germany — where her father served in the British military — and attended Boise State, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Communication in 2011 and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership in Higher Education in 2020. So enamored was she with the university’s culture and energy, and the relationships she made, that she took a job as an assistant director of development, and later as a regional development officer.
She and her husband’s passion for Bronco life has gone beyond her degree and employment. Together they established the Bronco Family Scholarship, which assists students who wouldn’t otherwise receive scholarship support. Allie said they founded it because of Geo’s experience paying for his education at Boise State.
“He was paying for his education himself. Knowing what those students, who are really passionate about Boise State in particular, were going through: We wanted to establish a scholarship that would help them,” she said.
The Engbersons have choices about where and how they spend their talent and money, and their passion is education. Making sure their alma mater can continue to give students access to a high-value experience motivated them to create the Bronco Family Scholarship and stay connected.
“I think what makes Boise State a really good investment is that it really feels like you’re part of something big and contributing to the success of higher education in general. We’re just putting great people out into the world — educated, critically thinking people who are making ours a good society to live in,” she said.
