SFS-Q Hosts Welcome for GCC Alumni

Georgetown Alumni Club of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries united with over a dozen other clubs worldwide to host a Welcome to the Neighborhood 2012 event. An initiative of the Georgetown Alumni Association (alumni.georgetown.edu), these events are designed to assist Hoyas who have recently relocated to establish a network of fellow alumni in their new hometown.

The event attracted a diverse mix of Hoyas from Georgetown’s undergraduate and graduate programs. The recent graduates from SFS-Q represented a majority of the attendees, but they were quick to welcome main campus alumni who are now living and working in Qatar.

The value of these events was quickly apparent to Nadim Rifai, member of SFS-Q’s class of 2012. “The event, aside from being a nice relaxed way to spend the evening, was an eye-opener for me. The Georgetown Alumni have all gone on to do great things in their lives and all seemed very happy with their careers. As a recent alumnus, this was very encouraging for me. I look forward to the next gathering where we can hopefully further expand this network.”

Rifai works alongside a fellow Hoya, Julia Stashkina, GEMBA’12, for whom this event was her first as a Georgetown alumna. “For many of us, our Georgetown experience was one of the most valuable parts of our adult lives. It is always nice to have a place where we can reconnect with like-minded people and discover new opportunities to grow and get to know the world and ourselves a little better.”

Doha was one of 13 cosmopolitan cities in which Georgetown’s Welcome to the Neighborhood events were held on September 13th. Others included New York, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Savannah and Washington, D.C. Chicago and Brussels also host events later in the month.

Regardless of graduation date, program type, the degree held or city of residence, all former students of Georgetown University are welcome as members of the Georgetown University Alumni Association. To learn more, visit alumni.georgetown.edu.