The College of Charleston’s newest alumni chapter is 7,357 miles from Randolph Hall – in Beijing, China. Chris Boehner ’06 moved to China about a month after graduating and has since found about 10 other alumni in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, and Beijing. This month, he launched the College’s 24th active alumni chapter and the first international chapter.
“It would have been invaluable to me to have an established network before coming to China,” Boehner says. “China is challenging and I hope by establishing this chapter, we can support alumni, students, and faculty residing in or considering spending time in China.”
Boehner will welcome 24 of the College’s MBA students in June as they travel abroad with Professor Bing Pan, a requirement of the College’s accelerated international MBA program.
In addition to being the chapter president, Boehner’s claim to fame is that he was the mandolin player in China’s first touring bluegrass band, The Redbucks. He’s currently working for a start-up venture that assists schools in prescreening Chinese applicants.
The College’s next official alumni chapter will be in London, England and the Office of Alumni Relations hopes to gain more soon after.
“Our Alumni Association is committed to the College’s strategic goal of providing students the global and interdisciplinary perspectives necessary to address the social, economic, environmental, ethical, scientific and political issues of the 21st century,” explains Meredith Chance, assistant director for alumni relations. “We are eager and excited to increase internationalization and assist the College in creating a global impact and helping shape a global agenda with our alumni ambassadors all over the world.”
For more information, contact Meredith Chance at 843.953.6631 or chancem@cofc.edu. Chris Boehner can be reached at chris.boehner@vericant.com.
