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Alumni Association Establishes First International Chapter: Pan-Asian Waves

The Pepperdine University Alumni Association has gone global, announcing its first-ever international alumni chapter: the Pan-Asian Waves. The chapter will hold its first event in Tokyo, Japan on October 2, bringing together approximately 100 alumni, parents, and friends residing in Japan, and marking a major development in Pepperdine's international presence.

The Pan-Asian Waves is the newest of 22 chapters to form among Pepperdine alumni. The Pepperdine University Alumni Association serves more than 80,000 alumni worldwide from all the schools of Pepperdine. It offers chapter events and means of engagement to nearly half of those alumni.

"In the past year, we have planned over 160 chapter events in 18 states, and now, one more country," said Giuseppe Nespoli, manager of chapters and regional programs for the Alumni Association. Nespoli notes that in the past year the Alumni Association has increased the number of alumni chapters by 50 percent, and significantly increased the support and recognition of all the existing chapters around the country. "We are now at a place to develop regions around the world and bring the alumni experience to Pepperdine alumni on foreign soil," he says.

The Alumni Association enlisted a team of regional alumni volunteers to address the significant challenges in organizing an Asian chapter-from language barriers to simply tracking down fellow alumni. "We are discovering that many alumni live in Japan but hold U.S. addresses because of employment, such as foreign service," Nespoli says. He and his team hope that this first event will serve to get the ball rolling and that the chapter will continue to grow.

In an effort to respect cultural differences, the Pepperdine Alumni Association sent out an invitation with both English and Japanese characters-and anticipates an event full of the same.

Click here to view the invitation.