News

As we start our final summer school session this week, you can feel the shift happening around International House. Students are arriving early to squeeze in one last class, and the familiar rhythms of campus life are returning. The Great Hall is filling with residents settling in for study sessions or a chess game while excited conversations flow around the tables in the Dining Commons. Next month will bring another wave of energy as we welcome our academic year cohort. Our team has been busy preparing — planning a resident retreat in the Sierra Nevada mountains and putting together something special for I-House's 95th Anniversary celebration. We're also looking forward to August 10 for our Annual Alumni Reunion Brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be wonderful to see familiar faces back in these halls and catch up with old friends over stories about your time here. I hope to see you then!

Dear I-House Community,

Many International House alumni and friends have reached out with concerns about I-House and our international residents. With ongoing visa delays, travel restrictions, and increased scrutiny due to recent U.S. policy changes, this is an especially challenging time for students hoping to join our community from abroad.

The past month has been eventful for International House with news about the ban on international students at Harvard and the delay in interviews for student visas. These actions have created uncertainty, fear and confusion for international students across campuses nationwide. I see the toll this is taking on international students here at UC Berkeley and across campuses nationwide. These students are not only learners, but also researchers, entrepreneurs, and future leaders. Ensuring international students feel welcome and supported is not just good policy — it's essential for strengthening our communities and maintaining America's leadership in research and education. Welcoming and supporting international students is at the core of I-House's mission. Our team is working hard this summer, preparing to welcome our new residents for the coming academic year. We stay committed to ensuring international students always have a home at I-House.

Dear I-House Community,

When I lived at I-House over 30 years ago, I often shared meals with friends like Balázs from Hungary, Fatema from Iran, Martha from Mexico, and Jumi from Korea. Experiencing such diversity every day truly opened my eyes to the world.  

Dear I-House Community,

Diversity has been at the core of the International House community since we opened our doors almost a century ago—and never before has it been under attack like it is today.  

Now is the time of year at I-House when the joyful energy of graduation and new beginnings is mixed with bittersweet feelings of departure and change. This year, we are also aware of the added challenges many I-House residents are facing due to recent policy decisions by the shifting landscape of international education. Please know that I-House remains committed to fostering a supportive, inclusive community for all our residents.

Explore how International House Berkeley continues to champion global understanding and intercultural leadership in today's complex world. - Executive Director Shaun Carver featured in Forbes, sharing insights on the importance of supporting international students in U.S. higher education. - VP Nayeli Vivanco speaks at SXSW EDU, highlighting the role of free speech and giving everyone a voice in polarized times. - Discover recent I-House events, alumni updates, and new additions to our swag store! Read the full newsletter

Dear I-House Community,

It’s the Big Give time of year again – please make a gift to International House during this UC Berkeley campus-wide day of giving! 

If you’re looking for a reason to give to I-House, here are just a few:

Sunday was the International House Awards Celebration and Gala, and I’m still feeling buoyed by the celebration, the camaraderie, and the beautiful reminder of what I-House is all about. We were honored to share this festive occasion with Rich Lyons, the new Honorary Chairman of the Board for I-House, and many I-House alumni, friends, and residents for this special event. Once again, my heartfelt congratulations to our distinguished awardees: Markos Kounalakis (IH 1977-78), The University Section Club, and Excellence Anurika Joshua (IH 2023-24). ...

In summary, Lyons to join Executive Director, Dr. Shaun Carver, in honoring advocates and trailblazers who embody the I-House mission during the organization’s annual gala, March 9, 2025

In this issue: Alumni Spotlight: Markos Kounalakis; Lodestar Speaker Series on AI; Gala Celebration; IH Gathering in NYC; and more!

I hope your new year is off to a great start! One of our resolutions this year at I-House is to continue to grow and strengthen connections among our alumni worldwide through the development of I-House alumni clubs. If you would like to help with this effort by serving as an alumni ambassador in your region of the world, please let us know by sending an email to alumni@ihouseberkeley.org. Next week, I'll be in Northern India and look forward to meeting alumni at events in New Delhi – details are below. Please join us if you can and help spread the word to other I-House alumni in that region!

Let there be peace on earth in the coming year, and always! Thanks to all who have already made gifts to I-House and our mission of peace.  We are grateful for your support. If you've yet to make a gift in 2024, there's still time to join our world-wide community of supporters before 2025 begins.  Your gift, of any size, is an investment in I-House and in the lives of our global residents and helps advance a better, kinder world of greater understanding. Please visit our giving page to donate online or mail your check to International House (postmarked by December 31, 2024) to: International House Alumni Relations and Philanthropy 2299 Piedmont Avenue Berkeley, CA  94720  As a nonprofit organization (tax ID # 94-1167403), I-House relies on the generosity of our alumni and friends to keep our doors open to the world. Thank you in advance for your support.

At International House, we bring together students from across the globe to live, learn, and discover their shared humanity. Your gift makes this experience possible. From the robotics engineering grad student from Brazil to the law student from Pakistan, your support ensures students of diverse backgrounds can call I-House home. The experience of living at I-House is transformative – helping to build curiosity, humility and compassion. As Xiaowen Yuan, a resident from China, shares: “I-House exposes me to so many different perspectives. It has made me realize how little I knew outside of my own culture and has made me reconsider the values and beliefs I once held.” Your gift provides scholarships for students who otherwise couldn’t afford to live here, sustains cultural programs that celebrate our diversity, and maintains our beautiful, historic home. If you haven’t already made your year-end gift to I-House, please make your gift today and invest in a better, kinder world of greater understanding.

As 2024 winds down, I want to take a moment to thank you for all of the ways you have been part of our I-House community this year. Whether you made a gift of financial support, attended an I-House alumni gathering, or simply continued to carry forth our mission in your own corner of the world - it all matters, and it's what makes our global community so special. I am proud to share the results of our recent I-House survey on free speech, which reveals a remarkable sentiment among our resident community. At a time when many college campuses across the U.S. are grappling with issues surrounding free expression, I-House stands out as a beacon of open dialogue and mutual respect. On a related note, I was recently featured on the Enrollify Podcast to discuss building a better experience for internatiots in the U.S. Listen here for insights into the challenges and opportunities in supporting this community. I was truly inspired by the generosity shown by our community members who gave to I-House last week on "Giving Tuesday." If you haven’t had a chance to give yet this year and would like to, here's a link to our online giving page. And if you've already made a gift of support, thank you! Your generosity helps support scholarships, intercultural programming, and the upkeep of beautiful I-House. And indeed, the beauty of I-House and our community has been on full display in recent weeks. We've celebrated with a resident benefit concert, a traditional I-House Sunday Supper, and our quarterly I-House Alumni Happy Hour at which we welcomed alumni from decades ago along with some of our newest alumni. Keep reading to see a list of some upcoming I-House gatherings in Taiwan, India, and back here in Berkeley. This month we continue to celebrate the remarkable contributions of I-House alumni around the world. We are happy to spotlight Jan Egeland (IH 1983) for his humanitarian work and Zahwa Amad (IH 1982–86) for her scientific research in HIV/AIDS. Their legacies are a testament to the values we share as an I-House community. Finally, if you're looking for a fun holiday gift visit the I-House Swag Shop, where you'll find cozy apparel, stylish accessories, practical items and more.

In summary -- the data reveals that I-House Berkeley fosters a supportive environment for free speech, with a significant majority of residents feeling safe and comfortable expressing their views, even on controversial topics. I-House students demonstrate a strong commitment to respectful dialogue and civil discourse in stark contrast to national trends. 88% of I-House Berkeley students feel safe expressing their views. 94% are comfortable sharing controversial opinions with fellow residents. 83% feel comfortable expressing their views to other UC Berkeley students. 82% are comfortable discussing their viewpoints with professors. 91% of I-House respondents trust their leaders to protect free speech. 62% believe I-House does more to safeguard free speech than UC Berkeley. 80% disagree with shouting down speakers. 92% oppose blocking students from attending events. 97% are against using violence to protest. 64% will speak up even when they feel uneasy. 60% admit to self-censoring in other campus environments. 85% express confidence in the future of free speech at I-House. 88% of Students at Berkeley I-House Feel Safe Expressing Views, Defying National Free Speech Trend on College Campuses

Dear Alumni, Residents, and Friends of I-House,

This Giving Tuesday, we have an exciting opportunity to make your gift to International House go twice as far!  

Thanks to the generosity of members of the I-House Board of Directors, every dollar of every gift made – up to $14,000 – will be MATCHED. 

Every dollar you give to the Fund for I-House will support the upkeep of our beautiful historic home, intercultural programs, and room and board scholarships that help keep our resident community culturally and economically diverse. For example: 

Dear I-House Community,

On Thanksgiving Day – a holiday celebrated across the United States – it’s common practice to reflect upon our blessings. Here are a few things that I am grateful for:

The I-House Connection: November 2024

Please join us for a special I-House Lodestar Executive Speakers Series event on November 7 from 4-6 pm (Pacific): After the Vote: Insights from Women Leaders Post-US Elections. This will be a post-election discussion on the implications of the U.S. election featuring three distinguished women in politics: congressional candidate Lateefah Simon, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste, and Berkeley mayoral candidate Kate Harrison (IH 1977-79). The Lodestar Executive Director's Speaker Series is a program of the Robertson Resident Life and Intercultural Leadership Office (RIO) that aims to bring our community together for dialogue that sparks curiosity, inspiration, and intercultural understanding. The program is open to current I-House residents, alumni, and the greater community. Please note that this event is a neutral platform for discussion; hosting does not imply endorsement of any candidate, nor do the views expressed by either candidate reflect an endorsement of the other.