Georgetown University Qatar Alumni Club Election Unites Graduates Across the GCC

Georgetown University’s newly formed Alumni Club of the GCC recently concluded elections for its executive committee, which officially sets in motion the organization’s presence as the first ever region-wide alumni association. Both the nominations for the positions, and the voting body, were open to any Georgetown University graduates working or living in the GCC.

“This executive committee will be responsible for coordinating activities of our alumni organization, one of the most important resources for our graduates, allowing them to stay connected to the school, and to the wonderful people they meet during the transformative university years of their lives,” said Charles Nailen, Alumni Relations Manager at Georgetown University Qatar (GU-Q) and the main organizer of the alumni club’s launch. “It also allows alumni to take advantage of lifelong learning resources, career services support, and networking opportunities, wherever they are on their career path.”

Unlike the traditional alumni groups that serve the student needs of their city or country, the Alumni Club of the GCC has a far broader reach, representing several countries and graduates from both the Washington D.C. and Doha campuses. Founded in 1881, the Georgetown Alumni Association includes more than 160,000 alumni from all 50 states and more than 110 countries.

“More than 25% of our club’s alumni members voted in this first round of elections, which means we’re already starting out with a high level of participation that is sure to increase over time,” said Charles, who organized the voting process online to insure that members living throughout the region could participate. “Currently, we have 400 club members, of which about 150 graduated here, from Georgetown’s Education City campus.”

The newly elected executive committee has already met for their first meeting, recently. “When I arrived in Doha I was heartened to learn Georgetown had a campus in the city,” said James Faulkner, who graduated from the Washington D.C. campus of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in 2000, and currently works for Booz Allen Hamilton in Qatar. James ran for president of the alumni organization in the recent election, which resulted in a tie. He is now co-president, sharing the position with GU-Q alum Basil Mahfouz. “I’m very excited to work with the Administration and my colleagues on the Alumni Club team to identify opportunities to bring the alumni across the GCC together and to provide guidance to those alumni just getting started in their careers.”

GU-Q’s alumni activities will continue breaking new ground in the region with the upcoming International Alumni Weekend event scheduled for December 5th through the 8th, where Georgetown alumni and international club leaders from around the world will converge on Doha, the first time the separate groups meet at such an event, to share experiences and strengthen their alumni community. All of the Alumni Club of the GCC programs are organized out of GU-Q’s Office of Outreach and Business Development.