They in turn had the knowledge base to act as ambassadors for the school in their respective communities. Alumni can tell their own stories in their own voice, and I see them as the catalyst to increase the college's visibility. This is true for older and recent graduates. At Berklee, alumni played a large role in keeping enrollment healthy and in raising the stature of the institution. When you were on campus for your interviews and presentations, you'd spoken often about the role of artists in the global community.
People think of Hollywood as the epicenter of the entertainment industry.
But in reality, tenfold more movies are produced in Bombay, India, than in Hollywood. There is a 40-billion industry there. So, as an institution that creates and nurtures artists, we are not talking to ourselves, we're communicating with the world. There are vast opportunities internationally for our students and we need to more fully develop those global relationships through exchange programs for faculty and students. Columbia alumni are increasingly located not just on the West Coast in large numbers, but also in the East and Southeast.