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NYC Annual Alumni Party – The New Provost makes an impression

By ucyohbe, on 19 November 2013

By Christina Smith (UCL Bartlett 2012)

IMG_1514It may have taken place on the coldest night of the season, but the third installment of the New York Annual Party was a successful event with a record-number of alumni in attendance. Held at the British Consulate in Manhattan, the event was sold-out and the host, Nick Astbury, the Deputy Consul General and a UCL alumnus, was happy to point out that UCL beat out Imperial for number of attendees at its reception, which was held at the consulate just a few days prior.

This year’s party was an opportunity to welcome in and hear from the new UCL President and Provost, Professor Michael Arthur. The new provost used the occasion to talk about some of UCL’s recent accomplishments, including its 4th place position in the QS World University Rankings, pointing out again that we beat Imperial (and also Oxford). He didn’t just use the event to tout UCL’s achievements however, he urged alumni to give back to UCL, not solely through financial support but by connecting with other alumni in the New York area, spreading the UCL name far and wide, and providing graduates with internship and job opportunities.

The reception was just one of a number of events for those living across the pond to engage and network with other UCL alumni, with a cohort of eager volunteers who lead the charge of helping to plan events to keep alumni active and connecting. You can view some photos of the party in our Flickr gallery.

Further information:

If you are interested in becoming an alumni volunteer and organising alumni activity in New York please email Miriam Waters, Alumni Relations Manager.

New York alumni webpage

New York alumni facebook page

Online Career Mentoring Network

Alumni LGBT group launched by Sir Stephen Wall and Alan Hollinghurst

By ucyohbe, on 8 November 2013

This blog is written by Don Levett

UCL’s new Alumni LGBT group launched with its first event last Wednesday. The drinks reception attracted over 120 former students, whose times at UCL spanned five decades.

The group was particularly fortunate to welcome both UCL Chair of Council Sir Stephen Wall – who gave a speech on diversity that also covered his personal journey as a diplomat, a career where homosexuality was long forbidden – and Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst, who taught at UCL back in the 1980s.

Set up to help friends get back in contact as well as make new connections, the group aims to run several socials every year. It also plans to raise a scholarship fund to help LGBT students from vulnerable contexts to attend UCL, particularly those from countries where homosexuality or alternative approaches to gender are discriminated against. This initiative is supported by the university.

Much of the inaugural event’s awareness was spread by word of mouth, and the organisers are particularly keen to increase the network’s diversity. Over coming events they would like reach alumni who were not necessarily open about their sexuality during their time at university, or who perhaps did not know many others who shared it.

If you’d like to attend future events or get involved, or have any friends from your time at UCL who’d you think might be interested, please drop the group a line on lgbt.alumni@uclmail.net, or join the UCL LGBT Alumni Facebook Group.

Alumni Hong Kong Event

By ucyohbe, on 25 April 2013

UCL ALUMNI HONG KONG EVENT 17 APRIL 2013

Provost Lecture ‘Globalisation of Higher Education:
What does it mean to be a truly international university?

Written by guest blogger Amrita Ahuja (Current UCL student –  LLB Law with Another Legal System)  

I was delighted to be invited to a UCL Hong Kong Alumni event; a lecture given by UCL Provost Professor Grant which was  entitled ‘Globalisation of Higher Education: What does it mean to be a truly international university?’

As a UCL student, currently on a study exchange at Hong Kong University, I recognize that the globalisation of universities has given students such as myself, opportunities to travel and contribute to the global community. Therefore I was really interested in attending the event and hearing the lecture.

The lecture and reception was held at The Hong Kong Jockey Club Hall and the room was filled with UCL alumni.  Through his lecture the Provost highlighted the common bond of those attending: in one way or another, we had all benefited from the “globalisation” of UCL and the opportunities this had given students from all around the world.

The speech was an honest reflection on both the challenges and successes of his 10 years at UCL and a projection of future challenges that higher education faces.  During the course of his lecture, the Provost outlined the role of universities in economies around the world, and how, more than ever, they are vital to growth, change and integration. UCL has been at the centre of these developments in times of financial crisis and is facing economic restraints, tuition fee increases and visa issues; but the University maintains its high standards and global reputation. This, as the speech suggested, has been down to understanding globalisation and how universities are to adapt to change. In the future, the Provost called for greater collaboration amongst disciplines as well as leading universities, as seen with the Yale UCL Collaborative programme.

Attendees of the event also included current and prospective UCL students who live in Hong Kong. For us the Provost’s  words on the future of UCL were extremely interesting. His forecast for the future included curriculum changes, the UCL Liberal Arts programme; challenges caused by private universities and the new MOOC system that has been initiated by Harvard University and MIT.

After the lecture, we were invited to a drinks reception, which was a wonderful opportunity to share our experiences of the University. It was great to see just how close the Hong Kong UCL Alumni community is and the enthusiasm with which they organise such events. The speech was very well received and enjoyed by all who attended. The Provost’s thought-provoking and highly articulate lecture was the perfect way to highlight just how global UCL is and will continue to be in the future.

If you would like more information about joining Hong Kong Alumni Club you can visit our webpage.

For more photos see our Flickr page

Hong Kong Alumni Event

UCL Alumni – Events Blog

By ucyohbe, on 23 April 2013

Hello and welcome to the Alumni Events Blog,

On this blog you will find details of some of the events that take place for UCL Alumni around the globe. UCL has a strong and active alumni network, and we wanted a place where we could tell you about some of the inspiring events that are happening.

There is a great breadth of events that our alumni can attend and stay connected with UCL. Every year lots of events take place from formal Alumni lectures and receptions, to career development events such as our Professional Networking series and more informal Alumni drinks and meet ups. You can view these events on our alumni calendar.

UCL also has a great programme of free events open to the public, such as our lunchtime lecture series and a fascinating network of museums and exhibitions –  so you have plenty of opportunity to come back and visit us!

If you have any questions about any event on this blog, or would like to re-connect and register as a UCL Alumni please email us: alumni@ucl.ac.uk

Happy reading!

The UCL Alumni team