The workshop is taking place July 12th in Vilnius at the European Humanities University (EHU), which has invited alumni coordinators from select institutions in the region to participate. Workshop participants will discuss how to promote a sense of community and volunteerism among alumni as well as deeper relationships with their alma mater.
"This is a unique opportunity for participants to learn from each other's experience. There is a growing awareness among universities in Europe of the importance and value of alumni networks. We are particularly looking forward to hearing about the experience of alumni of Yale University, which has a well-developed tradition of strong alumni relations," told BC Dr. Darius Udrys, EHU's vice-rector for development and communications.
According to Udrys, the idea of a workshop was proposed by Marvin Berenblum, a member of the board of EHU's support group Friends of EHU and a Yale alum, as a way by which Yale alumni could provide something of value to EHU and its colleagues in the region, especially in Lithuania, where EHU has been based since its forced closure by the authoritarian government of Belarus.
"After learning about EHU's fight for academic freedom and its ongoing mission as a Belarusian university-in-exile, Yale alumni became interested in doing something that would strengthen EHU," says Udrys, who oversees EHU's outreach to alumni. "The YaleGALE workshop is one of two such initiatives."
The workshop will be attended by alumni coordinators from the USA, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, and Russia.
The second Yale alumni initiative will be a concert to raise awareness about EHU by the Yale Alumni Chorus on July 29th. It will feature "Songs of Freedom" (including Belarusian and Lithuanian songs) and will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the courtyard of Vilnius Picture Gallery (Didžioji g. 4). The concert will be free and open to the public.
