Staff members from the Japan ICU Foundation were joined by ICU Dean of International Affairs Shaun Malarney in a successful recruitment and alumni relations trip to Honolulu this past November.

As part of our support to ICU’s international student recruitment activities, the Japan ICU Foundation visits a number of key cities each year. These cities, chosen for their geographic diversity and high number of Japanese language learners, provide a high number of potential new September students for ICU. Among them are Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC and Honolulu. This past November, JICUF Program Director Mark Flanigan and recent ICU graduate Ariana King joined ICU Dean of International Affairs Shaun Malarney for various recruitment and alumni outreach activities in Honolulu.

Together, the combined ICU-JICUF Team visited a total of eight schools during their time in Hawaii, including Sacred Hearts Academy, Maryknoll HS, Kamehameha- Kapalama HS, Punahou HS, University Lab School, Mid-Pacific Institute, Island Pacific Academy and Kapiolani Community College- University of Hawaii. The students at each of these diverse schools were extremely receptive to our updated ICU presentation, and the teachers and counselors at each of these schools extended a very warm welcome as well. Many of these schools have also seen their alumni apply to, attend and graduate from ICU as successful September students.

In addition to the successful school visits, the Team also planned a special ICU Alumni and Friends Dinner (in coordination with Ms. Kazuko Love, ICU graduate and Leader of the Hawaii Alumni Chapter) and attended a local College and Career Fair. The buffet-style dinner was held at The Willows Restaurant, a lovely venue known for its delicious cuisine and natural setting.

The dinner was well-attended and provided a great opportunity for different alumni members to reflect on their own personal experiences at ICU. Sharon Komatsubara, a former OYR, spoke about her most recent visit to campus as part of the 2014 ICU Homecoming Tour. Kazuko Love shared memories about what ICU meant to her as a place that truly opened her life up to global opportunities. Recent graduate Jaycee Uchida, a second-year Law School student at the University of Hawaii, enjoyed meeting the other alumni members and remarked how ICU’s Liberal Arts coursework had prepared her for the rigors of Law School.

Jaycee was kind enough to share this quote with us:

It was a wonderful experience to be included in the ICU alumni family at the JICUF dinner at the Willows Restaurant here in Honolulu. I was so grateful to see many generations of ICU graduates gather together and connect through fond memories of our wonderful campus, influential professors and, perhaps most importantly, the uniquely beautiful international community that is ICU. It was wonderful to reflect back on the opportunities made available to me at ICU during my undergraduate years and see the influence of ICU’s impact on the life of its alumni of which I am proudly a part. The JICUF is doing a wonderful job of bringing ICU to the attention of our community of students in Hawaii, who show great interest and commitment to studying abroad in Japan. JICUF, thank you for making our gathering possible and continuing to foster the growth of ICU.

Dr. Shaun Malarney, Dean of International Affiars at ICU, took time to share the latest news and information from campus with our alumni who were gathered there for the dinner. He mentioned ICU’s new designation as one of the “Super Global” Universities in Japan, as well as the latest updates about international student admission and exchange partnerships. Everyone in attendance really appreciated hearing directly from Dean Malarney and getting the ICU perspective firsthand.

The last part of our Hawaii trip was focused on the College and Career Fair in Honolulu. Held at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, this Fair attracted thousands of students from local area high schools. Many of them were taking Japanese language courses as part of their school curricula, so they appreciated having the chance to learn more from us about ICU. Ariana’s presence at the Fair was particularly helpful, as she was able to tell them all about things like dormitory living, taking the Japanese Language Program (JLP) courses and her experiences as a four-year September student.  Ariana has also been a great help to us at the Foundation in New York, as she is working with us on a special plan to give presentations on ICU to Japanese language students at key high schools in New York and New Jersey.

In all, it was a wonderful trip to Honolulu. Our JICUF-ICU Team really enjoyed visiting all the schools, meeting and catching up with our great Alumni Chapter members and staffing our College and Career Fair booth. It’s always our pleasure to help promote the great virtues of a Liberal Arts education at ICU! We will be back again next year for another round of recruitment and alumni-focused activities. Mahalo for the memories and see you again, Hawaii!