German Club Connections

Terms of Use, Acceptable Use, and Community Guidelines

Effective September 5, 2026 Provided by the German Club Alumni Foundation Inc.

Welcome

GC Connections is the online home of the German Club of Virginia Tech community - a private space built by the German Club Alumni Foundation Inc. (“the Foundation,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) in the spirit that has always defined the Club: Leadership for Service through Fellowship. It exists so that current and alumni members of the German Club can reconnect and keep our shared history alive.

GC Connections is made up of two related sites:

  • Connecting Today and Tomorrow — where members find one another, join groups, meet, and offer each other career support; and

  • Remembering Yesterday — our digital archive of scrapbooks, photographs, documents, and recorded histories.

These Terms of Use, Acceptable Use, and Community Guidelines (together, the “Terms”) apply to both sites, which we refer to together as “GC Connections” or “the Site.”

In these Terms, a “Member” means a German Club Alumni Foundation alumnus or an active member of the German Club of Virginia Tech. When we say “you,” we mean you as a Member.

Our shared values

The German Club Ritual sets out the values and standards that hold our organization together. Your use of GC Connections is bound by those values. Everything in these Terms — how we treat one another, what we build together, and where we draw lines — flows from the Ritual and from the mission of the Foundation and the German Club of Virginia Tech.

1. Your agreement to these Terms

By using GC Connections, you agree to these Terms. When you first sign in, we will ask you to accept them as part of getting set up. Acceptance is required: if you do not accept the Terms, you will not be able to finish registering or use the Site.

From time to time we may update these Terms as GC Connections grows (see “Changes to these Terms” below). When we do, we may ask you to accept the updated version the next time you sign in.

2. Who may use GC Connections

GC Connections is a private site for the German Club community. To use it, you must be a Member — a Foundation alumnus or an active member of the German Club of Virginia Tech — with a record in the Foundation’s alumni system, and you must be at least 18 years old. We ask that you provide accurate information about yourself and keep it reasonably current.

Access is a privilege we extend to eligible members of our community, and it may be limited or withdrawn as described in these Terms. Your account is yours alone; please don’t share your sign-in or let anyone else use your access.

3. Signing in

You sign in to GC Connections through the GCAF Alumni Portal, using the same account you use with the Foundation — there’s no separate password here. You’re responsible for keeping your Portal sign-in secure and for what happens under your account. If you think someone has used your account without your permission, let us know.

4. Your information and your privacy

To help members find and reconnect with one another, your profile may show your name, class year, city and state, and email address, along with anything you choose to add — your professional background, interests, and a short note about yourself. Your telephone number and mailing address are never shown to other members.

Choosing not to share. You may choose not to share your contact and location information. When you do, your email address and your city and state will not be shown to other members, and you’ll be placed in the general “Members at Large” group rather than a geographic one. Your sharing preference is kept with the Foundation so that it’s honored the same way everywhere across GC Connections.

How we use your information. We use your information only to run GC Connections — to provide the directory, groups, virtual meetings, career and mentorship features, notifications, and archive — and to communicate with you about the Site. We don’t sell your information, and we don’t use it for advertising.

Respecting each other’s information. Anything you learn about another member through GC Connections is for personal, member-to-member purposes only. You may not copy, collect, store, share, or reuse another member’s information for any other purpose. If you have a question about how your information is handled, write to us at connections@vtgc.net.

5. Using GC Connections the right way

GC Connections is for the private, personal, and non-commercial use of the German Club community. Please use it only for lawful purposes that fit the spirit of the Ritual and the mission of the Foundation and the German Club of Virginia Tech.

In particular, you agree not to:

  • advertise, market, sell, or promote any product, service, or business; solicit customers, clients, investments, or donations (other than activity organized by the Foundation); run or promote a multi-level-marketing or similar scheme; or otherwise use the Site or its directory for commercial gain;

  • collect, harvest, or compile members’ information — for mailing lists, recruiting databases, resale, or anything else;

  • send spam, chain messages, or unsolicited bulk messages;

  • post or share anything unlawful, infringing, defamatory, harassing, threatening, hateful, discriminatory, obscene, or invasive of someone’s privacy;

  • impersonate anyone or misrepresent who you are;

  • upload harmful code, or try to disrupt, probe, or gain unauthorized access to the Site or its data;

  • get around access controls, share your sign-in, or reach the Site any way other than the intended way; or

  • use the Site in any way that conflicts with the values of the Ritual or the mission of the Foundation and the German Club of Virginia Tech.

Jobs and Networking. Connecting Today and Tomorrow includes a Jobs and Networking feature so members can help support one another with career advice, mentorship, and genuine job opportunities, offered freely in the spirit of fellowship. Sharing a real opening - including one where you work - as a service to fellow members is welcome. What isn’t welcome is using the feature for commercial gain: advertising a business, charging for services, or conducting paid recruiting. It is a place for members to help members, not a marketplace.

6. What you share

When you post a message, add to your profile, or contribute a photograph, document, or recording, that content stays yours. By sharing it, you give the Foundation permission to store, display, and use it to run GC Connections and to serve the Foundation’s alumni and archival mission. For historical materials you contribute to Remembering Yesterday, that permission continues so the archive can be preserved for the community over time.

When you share content — especially historical photographs, documents, or recordings — you’re telling us that you have the right to share it, that it doesn’t infringe anyone’s copyright, privacy, or other rights, and that you have a good-faith basis for identifying anyone you name in it. Because our archive preserves history, some materials may include people who aren’t members; please contribute such materials only if you have the right to do so, and respect a fellow member’s request to be untagged or removed.

Removing your content. You can delete your own posts and replies on the Site at any time, and you may ask us to remove other content you’ve contributed — we’ll honor reasonable requests to take it down. 

We may remove or limit any content that breaks these Terms or that’s the subject of a good-faith complaint, including a copyright or privacy concern. If you believe something on the Site infringes your rights or should be taken down, write to us at connections@vtgc.net.

7. Community guidelines

GC Connections works because members treat one another with the respect and goodwill that define the German Club. Wherever you take part - in a group, on a message board, in a reply, at a meeting, or in the archive - we ask you to:

  • Treat each other well. Engage courteously, even in disagreement. No personal attacks, harassment, bullying, or hateful or demeaning language toward anyone.

  • Be yourself. Don’t impersonate others or pass along things you know to be untrue.

  • Stay on point. Keep conversation in keeping with the purpose of the space you’re in and the mission of our community.

  • Protect privacy. Don’t share others’ personal information or private messages without permission.

  • Keep it clean and lawful. Nothing unlawful, obscene, or inappropriate.

  • Protect our Reputation and Name. If you see something that crosses a line, let an administrator know.

8. Groups

Groups exist to strengthen fellowship, networking, and service. Any member may join open groups or propose a new one, subject to review by an administrator.

To keep GC Connections welcoming to every member and true to its purpose, some kinds of groups are not permitted:

  • Partisan or political groups - organized around political parties, candidates, elections, or political advocacy;

  • Commercial or promotional groups - organized to advertise, sell, solicit, recruit for profit, or promote a business or venture;

  • Religious proselytizing groups - organized to promote or recruit for a particular religion or belief; and

  • Anything at odds with our mission and values - any group or content contrary to the values of the German Club Ritual or the mission and standards of the Foundation and the German Club of Virginia Tech, or that is harassing, discriminatory, or otherwise inconsistent with these Terms.

Administrators may decline a proposal, rename or reclassify a group, or close one that falls outside these boundaries or these Terms. Because these boundaries are part of the Terms every member accepts, those decisions reflect our agreed community standards rather than any one person’s view, and administrator decisions are final. These boundaries are also shown on the group-proposal form, so members see them before proposing.

9. When these Terms are broken

We’d rather the community govern itself through goodwill, but the Foundation reserves the right to enforce these Terms. Depending on what happened, and usually in step with its seriousness, we may issue a reminder, edit or remove content or a group, temporarily suspend access, or permanently remove a member’s access. Serious matters — harassment, threats, unlawful activity, harvesting members’ information, or attacks on the Site — may lead to immediate suspension or removal without a prior warning. These decisions are made by administrators under the authority of the Foundation’s board.

10. Names, marks, and the Ritual

The GC Connections name and the Site, along with the names, crest, insignia, and marks of the German Club of Virginia Tech and the Foundation, belong to their respective owners and may not be used without permission. The German Club Ritual and its materials are protected traditions of the German Club. Apart from your own content and your personal use of the Site, nothing in these Terms gives you any rights in the Foundation’s or the German Club’s property.

11. The Site is provided “as is”

GC Connections is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We don’t warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that information provided by members is accurate. Your interactions with other members are your own responsibility; we don’t vet members beyond confirming membership, and we’re not responsible for the conduct of any member.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, the Foundation and its directors, officers, volunteers, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss arising out of your use of — or inability to use — GC Connections, even if we’ve been advised that such damages are possible.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Foundation and its directors, officers, volunteers, and agents from any claim, damage, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs) arising out of your content, your use of GC Connections, or your breach of these Terms or of any law or another person’s rights.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. How disputes are handled is described in “Resolving disputes” below. 

15. Resolving disputes

Talk to us first. If a dispute arises between you and the Foundation relating to these Terms or GC Connections, please contact us first at connections@vtgc.net so we can try to resolve it informally. We’ll make a good-faith effort to work it out, and most concerns can be resolved this way.

Arbitration. If a dispute isn’t resolved informally, as discussed above, within 60 days, it will be settled by binding arbitration. Either you or the Foundation may propose an arbitrator to conduct the arbitration. However, if we cannot agree on an arbitrator within 75 days after either party first receives notice of the dispute, the arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Regardless of what arbitrator is selected, the arbitration will take place in Montgomery County, Virginia or be conducted remotely. Virginia law will apply, and each side will pay its own costs and fees associated with the arbitration.

Exceptions to arbitration. There are some exceptions to the arbitration requirement above. Either party may seek relief in a court of competent jurisdiction for claims: (1) that qualify for small claims court, which must be brought in the Small Claims Court for Montgomery County, Virginia; (2) that seek injunctive or equitable relief; and (3) that seek to enforce a valid arbitration award.

Individual basis. Disputes will be handled on an individual basis; you and the Foundation agree not to bring or take part in any class, collective, or representative action.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as GC Connections evolves. When we make a meaningful change, we’ll update the effective date and may ask you to accept the updated Terms the next time you sign in.

17. Ending your use

You’re free to stop using GC Connections at any time. We may suspend or end your access as described above. A few parts of these Terms — the permission you grant for archival content, the terms about names and marks, and the sections on warranties, liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution - continue to apply after your use ends.

18. Contact

Questions about these Terms, or requests about your content or privacy, can be sent to connections@vtgc.net, or through the feedback form at the bottom of any page. 

German Club Alumni Foundation Inc. · 711 Southgate Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060 Effective September 5, 2026