Mooney visits alumni in Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo

Mooney visits alumni in Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo

Michael Mooney, president of Lewis & Clark College, and Greg Caldwell, associate dean of students and director of International Student Services, traveled to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea, in January to renew friendships and to share campus news with alumni, parents and friends of the College.

More than 600 Lewis & Clark alumni live in China, Japan and Korea. In fact, the Tokyo chapter of the Lewis & Clark Alumni Association is one of the College’s largest.

“I am always impressed by our international community, and, for many of us, Lewis & Clark provided the platform from which to pursue our international aspirations,” comments Barbara Kidd ’83, who lives in Hong Kong.

“I was impressed and overwhelmed by the scope and depth of the changes taking place at my alma mater,” says Bong-Sik Kim ’59, who lives in Seoul.

“Dr. Mooney’s presentation that evening reminded me of a verse from John Denver’s “Country Road”: ‘I should have been home yesterday.’ Lewis & Clark has been and will always be my spiritual home,” he says. “I miss my good friends and former roommates. I know I should have been back to campus many times. I promise I will be there soon.”

Seoul, South Korea

Young-Mok Kim ’88, president of the Korean chapter of the Lewis & Clark Alumni Association, organized a reception and dinner on Jan. 16 at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul with help from Daesoo Choi ’89 and Hui Joon Richard Kim ’91.

More than 40 alumni and parents of current students attended the event, and Bong-Sik Kim, senior member of the alumni organization, offered the opening toast.

To show its support for the College, the Korean chapter presented Mooney with a gift of $9,000.

Both the Chosun Ilbo, Korea’s largest daily newspaper, and the Korea Times published photographs and stories of Mooney’s visit to Korea.

Mooney also met with faculty and administrators of Yong-In University, including Hak Lee, chair of the university, and his wife, Sun-Kyung Park, vice president, who are parents of Lewis & Clark students Sung-Jin Lee and Kang-Jin Lee.

In addition, Byungki Kim ’85, assistant professor of international relations at Korea University, arranged for Mooney to meet with faculty and administrators at Korea University.

Hong Kong

John Wright ’83, president and chief executive officer of Global Sage, and Edward Chow ’84, director of Ziang Kong Trading Company, graciously greeted Mooney and Caldwell on Jan. 18 in Hong Kong.

Chow and his wife, Winne, presented Mooney with a gift of $25,000 to support the Margaret (Meg) O’Hara Scholarship Fund for international students. The scholarship honors O’Hara, who died in 1998. It is meant to reflect the international element of the Lewis & Clark community as O’Hara experienced it, according to Wright, who established the fund.

The Wrights also hosted a dinner and a day at the horse races with alumni and arranged a luncheon with college counselors and prospective students.

Tokyo

The Tokyo chapter hosted a reception at the International House on Jan. 22. More than 60 alumni and parents of current Lewis & Clark students attended the event.

“What I liked most about the event,” said Caldwell, “is that the class years of the alumni spanned the decades—from the class of 1952 to the class of 2000. The diverse group included Americans who are living in Tokyo as well as Japanese alumni and parents of students.”

While in Tokyo, Mooney and Caldwell also dined with alumni and parents of students and visited with the Tokyo Foundation. In addition, they met with Waseda University officials and decided that Lewis & Clark will continue to participate in the program by hosting Waseda students during spring semester each academic year.