President's Message

Welcome to the RUC North America Alumni Association.

Our association was founded in 2015. In the more than ten years since, with the continued support of our alma mater, the support of friends and partners across many fields, and the participation of alumni far and wide, we have grown from our early work of staying connected and organizing events into an alumni network that spans many cities across North America — and we continue to seek a way of working that is better governed, more sustainable, and more effective.

What we hope to build is not merely an organization that keeps alumni in touch, but an association that is three things in one: a community for learning, a platform for connection, and an organization dedicated to service.

As a community for learning, we promote the sharing of knowledge and the exchange of ideas through the North America MingDe Forum^®, professional lectures, and a wide range of gatherings, and we encourage alumni to stay engaged with the changing world and with society beyond their own careers. In the more than ten years since its founding, the North America MingDe Forum^® has become a signature brand of the association and an important venue where RUC alumni engage with academia and industry.

As a platform for connection, we are committed to linking alumni with our alma mater and with one another — across cities, across professions, and across generations. Our alumni are spread widely across North America and bring diverse professional backgrounds; the real value of these resources lies in bringing people, experience, and expertise together. We are also actively strengthening exchange and cooperation with RUC alumni organizations around the world, as well as with North American universities and civic institutions, to broaden and strengthen our alumni network.

As an organization of service, we pay attention to the practical needs of alumni at every stage of life. From helping new alumni settle in and grow, to career planning, internships and job searches, exchanges on entrepreneurship, cultural activities, and everyday connections, we hope that more sustained and more varied services will make the association a real source of support. The tradition of our Mentorship Program (“亦师亦友”项目) — the sharing of experience and the passing of wisdom between generations — is an important expression of this idea.

In building the organization, we are guided by four principles: compliance, sustainability, professionalism, and broad engagement. As a nonprofit, the association relies on sound governance as the foundation for long-term development; sustained programs and services are the foundation of its vitality; professionalism is the foundation on which it builds its value and character; and connections across regions, industries, and organizations open up greater opportunities for growth.

More than a decade of practice has made one thing ever clearer to us: our greatest strength is our alumni, our greatest value lies in connection, and our ultimate goal is to help alumni learn from one another, support one another, and grow together.

That is why we hope all our alumni will take part in building the association. Whether you contribute your time, your expertise, or your resources, or support the association's long-term development through a gift, every contribution becomes a source of strength in serving our alumni. The association belongs to all alumni — and it takes all alumni to build it.

We also hope that whenever you face challenges in life or at work and need a hand, you will remember that the association is here for you, together with an alumni network that reaches across North America. We may not be able to solve every problem, but we will do our best to share information, experience, and resources — or simply help you find someone to talk to.

Looking ahead, we will continue to strengthen our organization and our services, foster more effective exchange and cooperation among alumni, and help bring the professional strengths and resources of RUC alumni into play, while widening our ties with our alma mater and with every sector of society.

Thank you to all our alumni for being part of this community, for your participation and support, and for helping us build an association that belongs to us all.