- University Reunion Travel Tours - Liebersbachfamily, Photobucket
Leading universities around the world take alumni around the globe to build affinity for the alma mater and continue friendships made during university. Several universities have offered these alumni travel programs for decades.
For example, the University of Toronto began an alumni travel program in 1989 and since, more than 2,000 alumni and friends have traveled the world.
Tours have included a five-star cruise down the Seine, retracing Gauguin's steps in Tahiti, visiting with iguanas in the Galapagos and attending Masters golf tournaments.
University Alumni Travel Programs Enhanced With Learning
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, more than 35 trips are offered annually with more than 600 alumni and guests taking part. Members of the MIT faculty or lecturers from other institutions lead the programs and share knowledge to further enrich the experience as a study abroad tour.
MIT also offers train journeys and a private jet program with visits to remote areas of the world. The alumni travel group tours in a jet that travels off the commercial routes and schedules with the experience enriched by lecturers and local experts providing interpretation.
Penn State offers about 40 alumni travel programs each year with such themes as “Hemingway’s Footsteps,” when travelers walk in the author’s path during tours in Paris, Pamplona and Madrid.
Alumni Tours Provide Study Abroad Service Programs
At Yale University, alumni are invited to join in the “Yale Alumni Service Tours” with travel programs internationally and in the United States that focus on working in communities in need.
For example, one tour to Brazil focuses on sustainability. Alumni travel program participants are shown the effects of ongoing expansion of agriculture in Brazil that seriously threaten rare and vulnerable habitats. Travelers join Brazilian partners with Yale and local farmers to protect lands and promote sustainable agriculture.
Rice University invites its alumni and family to participate in tours. For example, Rice offers a tour to Costa Rica to tour an active volcano, visit a coffee plantation and walk on the hanging bridges in a rain forest.
Travel Programs for University, College Graduates Offered Worldwide
At Cambridge University, a variety of alumni travel programs are offered annually, most themed around the region of travel. For example, the alumni tour “In the Footsteps of Livingstone 2010” visits Zambia, Chobe and the Okavango Delta in Bostwana. Alumni visit Victoria Falls and explore a river looking for crocodiles and elephants.
Alumni travel programs allow universities to maintain close relationships with alumni and families. Tours to exotic locations further the links between the universities and graduates, allow for lifelong learning, offer reunion opportunities for university friends and provide interesting holidays.
Shelley Aylesworth-Spink - Shelley Aylesworth-Spink has worked in support of communications, marketing and advertising for nearly 25 years in the private and public ...
