In 1964, ICU became the University of California Education Abroad Program’s first partner institution in Asia. Since the program’s historic first year, over 800 ICU students have studied at one of the many UC campuses, and more than 1,100 UC students have studied at ICU. Today, the partnership continues to be just as vital as both partners look ahead to the next 50 years. To celebrate this 50-year collaboration and discuss how best to carry out another 50 years of such exchange, ICU held a 3-day anniversary event from 24 to 26 June, welcoming many UC administrators, alumni and friends to campus to hold a variety of activities.

On 24 June, a new cherry tree was planted along McLean Avenue heading from the main gate to the ICU Chapel. When ICU was founded, 106 cherry trees were originally planted to line the main road to campus. A project to replace these trees is under consideration as their age has made them vulnerable to damage in strong winds. The new cherry tree seedling was a gift from UC, both commemorating the schools’ 50-year collaboration and marking the second generation of cherry trees on campus. Jean-Xavier Guinard, executive director of the UC Education Abroad Program, ICU President Hibiya, and ICU and UC staff joined together in the planting. A plaque next to the tree commemorates exchange between the two schools. After the planting, the group moved to the Alumni House for a signing of a new exchange agreement. Both ICU and UC agreed that exchange between the schools ought to be promoted further among students and the program itself must continue to develop in the 21st century.

Later that day, ICU 60th Anniversary Professor M. William Steele gave a lecture at the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum on the subject of “Situating ICU in Modern Japanese History.” As a student at UC Santa Cruz, Professor Steele himself made use of the ICU-UC exchange program and spent one year at ICU in 1967. For the more than thirty years from 1981 until today, Professor Steele has taught modern Japanese history at ICU. He prefaced his lecture with a discussion of how his own history is intertwined with that of ICU and then presented many photographs of the campus to walk his audience through the university’s past 60 years.

On July 25, ICU held a special Symposium on ‘Study Abroad and Academic Integration’. Through their long-term partnership, both ICU and UC have encouraged students to study abroad not only to expand their global perspective but also to acquire specialized knowledge in the field of their interest. During the Symposium, the diverse participants from UC, ICU, Waseda University and Osaka University presented how each of their universities run the outbound study abroad program and discussed the significance of study abroad within the 4-year undergraduate curriculum. The discussion was engaging and well-facilitated by Professor Junko Ito, Professor of Linguistics, Director of the UC Tokyo Study Center at ICU.

Finally, on the evening of June 26, ICU hosted a special Commemorative Alumni Reception for the ICU-UC 50th Anniversary Celebration. Held in the University Dining Hall of the Dialogue House, the event was ably led by Master of Ceremonies Shaun K. Malarney, Dean of International Affairs at ICU. Mr. Kakuto Kitashiro, Chair of the ICU Board of Trustees, gave the Opening Greetings, followed by Professor Jean-Xavier Guinard of UC. Mark Flanigan of the Japan ICU Foundation relayed a special message of welcome from President David W. Vikner, and several distinguished alumni shared their remarks on the impact that the ICU-UC partnership had on their lives. Mr. Michael Kawachi, CEO of Amazon Japan and Trustee of ICU (UC EAP 1974-75), spoke about how coming to ICU deepened his understanding of religion and spirituality in his daily life. Dr. Hirotaka Takeuchi, Professor in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School (ICU EAP 1968-69) related his vivid impressions of life as a young Japanese exchange student from ICU in the turbulent times of the Vietnam War era in Berkeley.