Indonesian Trojans get together
Indonesian Trojans get together
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
"Wow, you look so different! I would not have recognized you," a
woman alumnus of the University of Southern California (USC) said
to another woman graduate she had not met for ages.
The band was playing in the auditorium and the two walked in
to mingle with other Indonesian alumni in the reunion on Thursday
night, marking the 125th anniversary of the USC at the Bapindo
Building auditorium in South Jakarta.
Some 300 members of the University of Southern California
Indonesian Alumni (AUSCI) participated.
"According to our current list, the USC has about 700 alumni
across Indonesia," AUSCI networking chairman Jefry Hakim told The
Jakarta Post.
He said that besides celebrating the university's 125th
anniversary, the reunion was held to introduce AUSCI's new
committee for the 2005-2007 period.
Committee head? and agribusiness, property, and financial
services company Gunung Sewu Group chairman Husodo Angkosubroto
organized the reunion.
Jefry, who is also general manager of Bank Harda
Internasional, said that since the alumni association was
registered in 1996, activities had been limited to seminars and
receptions for USC officials.
"But now with the new committee, we want to revitalize our
alumni organization," he said. USC student affairs and enrollment
services vice president Michael L. Jackson was also present at
the festivities, he said.
The relationship between Indonesia and the USC goes back to
the 1970s, and many Indonesian students have been attracted to
the university because of its reputation as one of the oldest
private research institutions in the United States.
Some of its alumni include Lippo group owner Mochtar Riady,
World Vision Indonesia board chairman Anugerah Pekerti and former
Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli.
The USC Trojans are famous for their college football and the
team's rivalry with the University of Notre Dame is widely
considered the greatest competition of college football in the
United States.
"Sometimes when AUSCI receives a copy of a USC Trojans match
we get together and watch. Many of us are still Trojans fans,"
Jefry said.