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The Japan ICU Foundation Staff recently returned from a wonderful 8 day trip to Tokyo, Hiroshima and Osaka. The ICU Homecoming Tour had a wide range of activities and the participants and presenters were equally diverse in their experiences and backgrounds. The one thing that tied everyone together was their love for ICU, a strong belief in its mission to be an exemplary liberal arts university in Tokyo and its vision to be a leader in creating the next generation of peaceful, global citizens. Below is a brief description of the programs and events that were part of the ICU Homecoming Tour of October 2014.

The Japan ICU Foundation (JICUF) Staff and Board of Trustees held a very successful meeting with ICU President Junko Hibiya and Dean of International Affairs Shaun Malarney in Seattle this past September. This meeting, one of two Trustees’ meetings held annually, was a great opportunity to discuss the way forward for further collaboration in the ICU-JICUF partnership.

The following is an interview of Class of 2011 ICU graduate Lilla Dent. Lilla graduated from the Division of Languages at ICU and is currently pursuing a career as a visual artist. You can see her work by visiting her website.

On September 26, ICU was selected for the Japanese Ministry of Education’s Super Global University Project. A highly selective program, ICU was one of 24 universities to be chosen for the Type B designation. The Super Global University Project aims to encourage Japanese universities to become global leaders in higher education.

ICU Alumna, Carolyn Treadway (JYA ’61) will be returning to Japan this November to take part in a Learning Journey with a focus on Disaster as a Springboard for Building Resilient Communities.

Yuki White is an ICU ’06 graduate who is currently living and working in NYC as an artist. She has studied at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology until 2014. Her paintings have been shown in both public and private exhibitions in and around New York City and her work was recently selected to be featured in Amazon Art Collections.

The great earthquake, tsunami and subsequent disasters in Northern Japan on March 11, 2011 sent ICU alumnus and current Dean of Program Development at DeVry, Bob Aron a thousands of miles away, into a state of shock. He shares his thoughts below on why he continues to do all he can to support Tohoku and the ICU professors and students involved in rebuilding/relief efforts:

My name is JiYeon Yoo, and I am going to graduate ICU in March 2015. This is my last year at ICU after one year exchange at Yonsei University in Korea. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and I moved to Osaka at the age of 11 first and then moved to Tokyo. I am also a ICU High School graduate.

My name is Anan Ogawa, and I’m a senior student in ICU. (I can’t believe that this is the last year!) I plan to graduate in March 2015. From next April, I will start working in a trading company in Japan.

On Tuesday, May 27, 2014, the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles conferred the Commendation of the Consul General on Mr. Ted Tokio Tanaka and Mrs. Masako Unoura-Tanaka.