JICUF Program Director Mark Flanigan traveled to Seattle in early November to participate in the autumn National College Fair. He received outstanding recruitment support and teamwork from our Seattle ICU alumni, who also partnered with JICUF to organize a local dinner at Red Lantern Restaurant for alumni and friends of Japan. We were happy to meet new colleagues from Pacific Northwest JET Alumni Association, the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle, University of Washington’s East Asia Resource Center and Northwest University School of Education as well. In all, it was a wonderful opportunity to build bridges with potential students, program partners and alumni alike!

Traveling to Seattle to take part in the National College Fair each autumn is a great way to reach out directly to interested high school students and their families in the Pacific Northwest. Held downtown at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center, this annual event attracts active attendees from throughout the greater Seattle-Tacoma region who are considering which Universities they might apply to in the coming year. JICUF staff members have partnered with the Seattle alumni for a number of years to represent ICU with an official booth, reaching thousands of potential ICU students. This year as well, Program Director Mark Flanigan teamed up with a highly-motivated ICU alumni team, including former OYRs BJ Bell and Matt Johnson, as well as Dr. Hitoshi Maruyama of the first graduating class at ICU!

In addition to outreach to ICU alumni, JICUF has recently embraced a more strategic approach to engaging prospective partners from like-minded organizations. In NYC, Washington DC, Boston, Los Angeles, Honolulu and now Seattle, JICUF has established terrific ties with such partners. For example, the ICU alumni and friends dinner in Seattle welcomed numerous alumni as well as friends from the University of Washington, Northwest University, the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle, the Pacific Northwest JET Program Alumni Association and others. This new approach has the positive effect of broadening our base among Japan-related colleagues, leading to greater exposure and increased opportunities for fundraising, program development and student recruitment for ICU.

After the College Fair, culinary connoisseur Matt Johnson took the lead in organizing a truly tasty dinner gathering for ICU alumni and friends. Meeting at the Red Lantern Restaurant in the International District, our participants enjoyed sumptuous selections of delicious Asian cuisine and shared conversations about ICU, Japan and how to promote increased cross-cultural exchange between our two countries. It was a wonderful opportunity for all to come together and reflect on founding President Hachiro Yuasa’s vision of ICU as the “University of Tomorrow.” The Japan ICU Foundation would like to send a special note of thanks to our awesome alumni group in Seattle for yet another year of proactive partnership, as well as our new colleagues and friends in Japan-related organizations. See you next autumn for another great College Fair!