The weather is getting cooler, the leaves around Newberg are turning fantastic colors, and I find myself thinking about summer. It’s not that I don’t appreciate fall, it’s actually my favorite season. Instead, my thoughts are due to a remarkable experience I had this summer. As a part of my graduate program here at George Fox, I traveled to China for a ten-day study trip with 8 members of my cohort and Linda Samek, dean of the School of Education. This was an incredible trip that broadened my perspective of the truly global nature of higher education. Looking back, I’m also struck by what this trip taught me about relationships and the way that I approach my job as director of alumni relations.
One of the most significant things that I gained from this experience is an appreciation for the Chinese concept of Guanxi. Loosely translated, guanxi refers to relationships or connections. However, the concept itself is far more complex than either of these translations would indicate by themselves. Guanxi is a relational form that is built between people over time. It differs from mere friendship and is seldom used to describe family relationships. Instead, Guanxi is a life-long connection based on a shared history and mutual trust which liberates people to make requests of one another or to ask for assistance. It is a deep-rooted give-and-take bond.
It is my hope that this is indicative of the connection that our alumni have with George Fox, and vice versa. Regardless of the program that you studied in, which campus or center you were at, and even the decade that you attended, George Fox is a part of your story and you are a part of the institution’s history.
At its core, the goal of alumni relations is to develop and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between our alumni and the university. We aim to provide events, communication, and services that benefit you. We seek ways to reconnect you to your peers and your professors for both social and professional networking. We look for opportunities to help you reminisce about your time at George Fox. As an office, we want to serve you in whatever way we possibly can.
We also hope that through the service and connection we offer, you will be stirred to serve George Fox University as well. Whether you tell a high school senior about George Fox, volunteer to let a student job shadow you, volunteer to be on a reunion committee, make a financial contribution, or just serve as an advocate for the university by sticking a license plate frame on your car, we want this relationship to go both ways. GFU to You; You to GFU.
God’s peace,
Robby Larson
Director of Alumni Relations
rlarson@georgefox.edu