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Baldwin Wallace University

IT Support

Alumni @mail.bw.edu Email Accounts Are Being Retired

  • Updated

What's Happening?

Baldwin Wallace University is dedicated to supporting our alumni community and protecting your digital security. Over time, keeping alumni email accounts active brings risks—everything from security concerns to growing support costs—so as part of this commitment, BW is retiring the “email for life” program for alumni accounts ending in @mail.bw.edu.

Why is BW retiring alumni email accounts?

We understand that your BW email account has helped you stay connected with the University and fellow alumni. However, several important factors have led to this decision:

  • Security and risk management: While there are a number of active alumni email accounts, inactive accounts far outnumber them. All accounts — active or inactive — are susceptible to compromise. However, inactive accounts pose a heightened risk because they are rarely monitored. If an inactive account is breached, it can be exploited to send phishing emails or spam, creating significant reputational and security risks for BW.
  • Compliance and liability: Evolving data privacy standards make it difficult to justify indefinite access to BW systems after graduation.
  • Resource impact: Maintaining these accounts requires ongoing IT support for forgotten passwords, account recovery, and security monitoring.
  • Consistency: Other digital services, such as learning systems and cloud storage, are not available beyond graduation.

By retiring alumni email accounts, we are aligning with best practices to protect your information and the University’s reputation.

Key dates - Please mark your calendar

  • February 2, 2026 – Forwarding Ends
    Any email sent to your @mail.bw.edu address after this date will not be forwarded to another email account. If you set up forwarding, it will stop. If you didn’t set up forwarding, nothing changes.
  • June 1, 2026 – Account Deleted
    On this date your @mail.bw.edu account will be permanently deleted. You’ll no longer be able to sign in or access any of the contents of that account.
Forwarding Ends: February 2, 2026 After this date, emails sent to your @mail.bw.edu account will no longer be forwarded to another address.

 

Account Deletion: June 1, 2026 Your @mail.bw.edu account will be permanently deleted after this date.

Action Required:

  1. Back up any important messages, files, or contacts before June 1, 2026.
  2. Update any login credentials currently tied to your BW email (such as financial institutions, healthcare portals, subscriptions, educational accounts, social media, and online shopping) with a different email address. Change your email on banking, subscriptions, and services that use @mail.bw.edu so you don't lose access.
  3. Update your preferred email address with BW using our Alumni Information Update page.

We’re Here to Support You

We know that change like this can feel inconvenient, and we want you to know that our goal is never to take anything away from our alumni. Instead, we’re making this update to ensure your information stays secure and our systems remain strong for years to come. Your connection to Baldwin Wallace doesn’t depend on an email account — it lives in the experiences you had here and the community you’re always a part of.

Thank you for your understanding and for being a valued member of the BW family.

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