Nearly 30 CEU alumni met in Vienna on Wednesday, June 5 for a special happy hour with President and Rector Michael Ignatieff. (See pics below.) It was the university’s largest alumni event in the Austrian capital thus far, and with CEU’s new campus opening there this fall, a likely foretaste of things to come.
Meeting at Vienna’s buzzing Magazin 3 Hacken restaurant, the crowd consisted of graduates of nearly every CEU academic unit and classes from 1993 to 2018. Guests also included two CEU couples - and the young daughter of one.
“It was a diverse crowd but with that great CEU ‘family’ feeling,” said host Serge Sych (IRES ’97, LEGS ’99), Vice President for Enrollment, Recruitment and Alumni Relations.
In his first alumni happy hour appearance, Rector Ignatieff lauded CEU’s recent ranking among the 100 best universities worldwide. He also calling on Vienna-based alumni to assist with job and internship leads and recruitment opportunities for new students, as well as critical financial support as the university transitions to Vienna.
Reiterating the rector’s call to action, Serge told gathered alumni that, with the new campus on the way, CEU’s Viennese alumni chapter is now, like their counterparts in Budapest, the ‘home chapter.’
“All eyes are now on them,” he said.
Several alumni voiced their interest in getting involved with university’s transition to Vienna, through volunteering and participation in campus life. One alum made a gift on the spot in support of the CEU Alumni Campaign.
HUGE THANKS to everyone who made this happy hour a great success!
