In support of ICU, The Japan ICU Foundation (JICUF) traveled to Chicago in late October to attend both a regional College Fair and an ICU Alumni Chapter gathering.

One week after the ICU-JICUF Trustees Meeting in Seattle, President David Vikner and Program Director Mark Flanigan traveled to Chicago to attend the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) College Fair as well as a local ICU Alumni Chapter gathering. The College Fair, one of many attended by JICUF staff throughout the year, was a great chance to speak with High School students, family members, teachers and counselors about the various ways to study at ICU.

While JICUF attends annual College Fairs in Seattle, Honolulu and Boston in support of ICU’s international student recruitment goals, we decided to add Chicago to our list of destinations this year, in order to focus on students from the Midwest. We coordinated in advance with the Consulate-General of Japan at Chicago, in order to reach out to local Japanese language teachers in the area and let them know we would be attending the College Fair. This proved to be a valuable connection, as we were able to reach many students who are currently studying Japanese at the High School level.

Ms. Ayako Yamada, Vice-Consul, Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan at Chicago, proved to be a key partner for JICUF in this endeavor. Through her contacts, many individuals interested in ICU attended the College Fair as well as our Alumni gathering later that evening. Through Yamada-san’s contacts, a number of people from the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program community as well as other prospective ICU applicants were able to join us for a nice dinner and discussion.

After the very successful College Fair, the Foundation co-hosted a nice dinner gathering in partnership with the Chicago ICU Alumni Chapter, led by alumna Ms. Yoko Eide. This has become common practice for the Foundation after key events in local cities in North America, whereby the local chapters in Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Washington DC and other cities join with the Foundation to bring ICU alumni and friends together for a nice meal and conversation. We always enjoy partnering with our ICU Alumni chapters and welcoming new friends of Japan as well.

JICUF wishes to thank our friends in Chicago for such a wonderful time, and we look forward to seeing our ICU alumni and friends across North America in 2015 and beyond!