The purpose of the present study was to explore the individual and community-based meanings that foster alumni assigned to a material object, a "Bubba bear," which higher education professionals provided to foster alumni who were attending or who recently graduated from college in Oklahoma. As part of a statewide program, R is for Thursday Network of Oklahoma, which is a collaboration of higher education professionals, community partners and organizations, and foster alumni college students and graduates, the study also considered the meanings of other material objects students considered important in framing their experiences as college students and early career graduates. Seven participants were interviewed and answered questions relating to meaningful childhood objects. In addition, participants identified objects that were meaningful during college. Finally, participants created an art piece representative of what Bubba means to them. Interviews and the created art served as data sources for this study. This study proceeds from the theoretical perspective of interpretivism using an a posteriori theoretical framework of Symbolic Interactionism (SI) to analyze the data. Four findings emerged from the data. First is that Bubba's meaning is complex and personal. Second, Bubba's assigned roles are diverse but seem to center around community. Third, Bubba may represent an idealized human. Fourth, participants identified other objects that represent specific memories and emotions. Participants kept these objects nearby. These findings provide insight into possible ways to support the foster alumni population on college campuses. In addition, the findings highlight ways that material objects may matter to foster alumni students and that higher education may be able to utilize material objects to extend the college community to foster alumni, as well as other student populations. Extending community and reinforcing that students matter increases the likelihood students will persist to graduation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]