The I-House Connection: September 2020
Dear I-House Community –
Just over a month ago I wrote to you to share a number of exciting ways to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of I-House’s founding, and to launch our new Global Community Initiative engagement and mentoring platform: ihouse.berkeley.edu/connect.
I’m very pleased to let you know that we have now surpassed 600 alumni who have registered on the platform, with the number rising daily! I encourage you to join now via the link below if you haven’t already. I’m also pleased to highlight the wonderful oral history interview below with alumna Kathryn Anthony (IH 1976-79) as part of a new ongoing series. In this issue, the second in my tenure, we also highlight the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion through a new virtual workshop series entitled “Amplifying Equity” presented by the Robertson Center for Intercultural Leadership.
Due to the continuing prevalence and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sad but necessary temporary closure of I-House has now been extended to include the upcoming spring term of the current 2020-21 academic year. I wish to acknowledge and thank the many staff who will be laid-off or reassigned elsewhere on Campus — hopefully temporarily — because of the closure, and to express that the Board, staff, and I are all working to ensure that we can reopen as soon as it is safe and practical to do so.
In closing, once again I encourage you to reach out to me directly at ihouseexecutive@berkeley.edu with any ideas, suggestions, concerns, or questions you may have. My personal thanks for your support in keeping the I-House dream alive!
Sincerely,
Shaun R. Carver
Executive Director, International House
Calling All Alumni:
Join our New I-House Global Community Platform!
Now more than ever, it is important to stay connected to International House. The new online community, I-House Berkeley Connect, provides an easy and secure way to do so.
Just a few benefits of joining the platform:
- Connect: Find and reminisce with fellow alumni around the world with the robust google maps-based directory
- Give back: Introduce, employ and offer to be a mentor to I-House Berkeley alumni
- Expand: leverage your professional network and showcase an offer in the Business Directory
- Reunite: Connect with alumni within specific regional or decade groups
Alumni can easily join the platform through LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, or email. Join today at ihouse.berkeley.edu/connect. By sharing this with your I-House friends, you are helping to extend our reach and to keep the I-House connection alive despite our temporary closure.
We strive to keep the I-House experience alive in the hearts and minds of alumni around the world, and we are enhancing our efforts to connect the I-House Global Community. During the temporary closure of I-House, there are new volunteer opportunities available for alumni to serve as Global Community Ambassadors on our new alumni engagement platform, I-House Berkeley Connect. If you are interested in helping to mobilize fellow alumni in your region or from your time at I-House to join and participate on the platform, please contact us at ihalumni@berkeley.edu or Laurie Ferris at lferris@berkeley.edu).
Alumni Spotlight: Kathryn Anthony (IH 1976-79)
By Chan’Cellore Makanjuola, I-House Social Media Ambassador
With a career that spans four decades, Kathryn Anthony (IH 1976-79) has risen to prominence in the field of architecture. She studied psychology as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley and continued her education there to pursue a Ph.D. in architecture, specializing in social and cultural factors in design. Her dissertation was on the architecture of International House at UC Berkeley, titled “Home Away from Home” where she analyzed the history of its foundation, part of which included the Spanish Moorish style it was influenced by. In August, Anthony was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Women in Architecture Foundation to honor her contributions to the field.
I spoke with her through a Zoom interview to discuss what she’s been up to since her last interview with I-House, and hear some of her favorite memories from her time as a resident in the ’70s. The interview is part of a series of “spotlights” where alumni and former executive directors are featured for an oral history discussion about their time at I-House. While the House will be closed for the 2020-2021 academic year, the oral history discussions are a way to help keep the alumni community connected virtually.
We are embarking on a new initiative to interview more I-House alumni for Oral Histories. If you would like to provide an interview or volunteer to help, please contact Laurie Ferris at lferris@berkeley.edu.
Building Trust on Diverse Teams
The Robertson Center for Intercultural Leadership (CIL) is hosting a series of virtual workshops on Amplifying Equity. Gain a deeper understanding and practice of inclusive and equitable leadership and leave with tangible strategies that you can apply in your professional and personal spheres of influence.
To kick off the workshop series, we’re starting with – Building Trust on Diverse Teams. Visit https://bit.ly/Amplifying Equity to learn more about the upcoming workshops and register. Use code – IHOUSE – to get the I-House Alumni discount.
Stay Connected
It is our goal to celebrate the lives and achievements of our alumni and the contributions they have made and continue to make around the world. Please help us to keep you informed of upcoming regional events, update our records to help you reconnect with old friends, locate lost alumni, and share recent news with you. If you have moved, changed email or mailing addresses, or want to give us an exciting update about developments in your own life, please join ihouse.berkeley.edu/connect or let us know by filling out this brief contact update form.
We thank you for staying connected to International House Berkeley.
Sincerely,
I-House Alumni Relations, Communications, and Philanthropy Team
(510) 642-4128
ihalumni@berkeley.edu