Volume 30 · Number 1 · Fall 2012
Alumni: Always an Aggie—no matter where
Alumni in Hong Kong show their Aggie colors during a Picnic Day celebration.
Alumni networks around the world unite graduates, raise UC Davis’ profile.
UC Davis’ alumni networks thrive all over the globe. These groups raise the international profile of UC Davis while meeting the needs of their community, and providing social and networking outlets for their members.
Ginger Welsh ’95, international alumni programs officer for the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, sees lots of possibilities. “A network of UC Davis alumni and friends could foster social activities, provide a forum to share UC Davis memories and experiences, and facilitate exchanges of both local and international contacts. A network could provide information to students interested in studying at UC Davis, support study abroad and increase student participation in summer programs led by UC Davis faculty.”
There are some 215,000 UC Davis alumni around the world. UC Davis has 26 international alumni networks on six continents. Some are official chapters while others are networks. Below is a glimpse at three active networks and their recent activities.
Hong Kong
Alumni profiles
In January, with the help of San Lee ’09, the Cal Aggie Alumni Association started a network in Hong Kong. She wanted to connect with the more than 60 alumni and friends who live in the region. Those members hosted four events this year: two happy hours, a Fourth of July barbecue and a Picnic Day celebration.
For the Picnic Day around the World event on April 21, Hong Kong joined chapters in Munich; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Baguio, Philippines. Welsh encouraged alumni to plan an event in their region of the world to coincide with Picnic Day. Something “that brings alumni and friends of UC Davis together for fellowship, fun and food for the entire family — a replica of Picnic Day on the Davis campus.”
Alumni in Hong Kong also support the UC Davis Admissions Office with outreach, attending events in the region that connect prospective students with alumni and recent graduates.
London
The alumni network is active in London, with the support of Matthew Daines, Ph.D. ’05, who works at the UC London House. Daines assists all the UC alumni networks, cross-promoting events. This unites a larger community of alums and attracts a wider range of events.
On July 26, UC London House welcomed Brian Davis, a UC Davis professor of physical medicine who specializes in the nonsurgical treatment of sports and musculoskeletal disorders. Davis worked as a volunteer physician for the London 2012 games July 27 through Aug. 12. Davis discussed “Sideline Management of Sports Injuries,” and shared vignettes from his involvement at previous Olympic and Paralympic games.
Other recent get-togethers include an alumni mixer at the racetrack at Wimbledon in February and a Mexican food night in April. In September, UC Davis music professor and conductor D. Kern Holoman planned a lecture in London. As of press time, the date had not been set.
There are more than 450 UC Davis alumni and friends who live in the United Kingdom.
Washington, D.C.
Design professor Ann Savageau talks with visitors at a UC Davis exhibition at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., where alumni helped with events celebrating 150 years of American land-grant universities.
(Michael C. Campbell photo)
As our faculty take to the road, UC Davis alumni networks provide opportunities for events featuring them. In June and July, UC Davis and its Washington, D.C., alumni network took part in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. It celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which launched land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Washington, D.C., alumni network has more than 100 alumni and friends participating.
In conjunction with the festival, alumni helped coordinate three guest faculty lectures:
On June 26, Patricia Turner, vice provost for undergraduate education, kicked off a yearlong series of UC Davis events in Washington, D.C., when she delivered the Botkin Lecture at the Library of Congress, discussing African-American folk artists and the civil rights movement.
On June 28, music professor Chris Reynolds shared a talk on “How Songs Find Their Meanings: Que sera, sera,” exploring the history of rock and how one listens to it.
On July 3, Charlie Bamforth, who holds the Anheuser-Busch Professorship in Malting and Brewing Science, gave a talk on “The Science of Beer Making,” which included tastings at a local pub.
Create your own
These events are just a glimpse into the programs under way around the world and in your neighborhood. For links to these and other alumni networks, visit alumni.ucdavis.edu and click on “Alumni Networking.”
Don’t have one in your area? The Cal Aggie Alumni Association can help. To get involved, contact Ginger Welsh at alumni@ucdavis.edu. Let CAAA know where you live and its staff will help bring the Aggie experience to alumni and students in your area.