University of Iowa’s Alumni Network Expands Across Asia

PHOTO COURTESY KATHARINE LASANSKY Hawkeyes recently met in Tokyo to launch the Japan Iowa Club.

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he University of Iowa’s alumni community is strengthening its international ties, adding Japan and Korea Iowa Clubs to the network of alumni groups around the world.

Both the Japan and Korea Iowa Clubs already had long histories of gathering informally and became official clubs this past October. More than 40 Hawkeyes gathered in Japan, and more than 125 alumni and friends in Korea came together to launch these new clubs. Both groups have opportunity for growth, as more than 700 alumni live in Japan and more than 1,200 reside in Korea.

With the help of the University of Iowa Center for Advancement, both clubs began to connect disparate alumni groups, find funding, and coordinate events.

Alumni volunteers quickly stepped up to fill leadership positions. For some, it’s a way to give back.

“When I looked back on my past 15 years, my life was not bad,” says Shogo Ara (07BA), president of the Japan Iowa Club, “and when I looked for why, I thought that one of the reasons was my time in Iowa. So, my motivation is appreciation for Iowa.”

“We knew from our experience that if we build it, they will come.” —John Lee

PHOTO COURTESY JOHN LEE Hawkeyes recently gathered in Seoul to start the Korea Iowa Club.

For others, volunteering is an opportunity to re-establish a community first found at Iowa. Korea Iowa Club leader John Lee (09BLS) and club president Ethan Lee (10BS) served as presidents of the Korean Undergraduate Student Association as UI students and used that background to help build the Korean alumni network. “We knew from our experience that ‘if we build it, they will come,’” says John Lee. “We took it on ourselves to just push forward and make it happen.”

Both Iowa Clubs aim to support international students, establish scholarships to enable Japanese and Korean students to attend Iowa, and help with student recruitment. The Japan Iowa Club looks forward to partnering with many local high schools, including the U.S. military-run Nile C. Kinnick High School in Yokosuka, where UI College of Education alumna Chantal McNeil (08BA) is the guidance counselor. Meanwhile, the Korea Iowa Club works with the UI’s Korean undergraduate and graduate student associations to provide mentoring and resources for Hawkeyes seeking to move to Korea.

“It was a very fulfilling experience to be able to put together this event and work with the more recent graduates,” says John Lee. “We are truly happy it was a success, and we look forward to the future where we can bring together all of the people we connected with this year.”

PHOTO COURTESY KATHARINE LASANSKY University of Iowa representative Katharine Lasansky (14BA, 20MBA) visits Chantal McNeil (08BA), the guidance counselor at Nile C. Kinnick High School in Yokosuka, Japan.