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.