Colombo Uni Science Faculty Alumni reunion in North America
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Edison, New Jersey– More than 200 Colombo University Science Faculty graduates have formed a North American alumni association.
An interim committee of 20 alumni from all over the United States and Canada, led by Professor L.M.V. Tillekeratne, had been working together for nearly six months laying the groundwork and communicating with other alumni. Their efforts culminated last weekend with the first ever North American gathering of the alumni of the faculty of Science.
Tamasha, the uniquely idiosyncratic Science Faculty socials tradition, was resurrected on Saturday: the traditional cultural show was followed by a glittering dinner dance extravaganza as a fundraiser for the Faculty ofScience.
The event, which had a dream like quality, was received with high appreciation by the grateful alumni, most of whom met their batch mates after many decades. Ambassador A. S. Khan, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Mrs. Khan, graced the occasion as guests of honour. Many well-wishers in the New York and New Jersey area also attended the event.
On Sunday the Colombo University Faculty of Science Alumni Association of North America (CUFSAA-NA) held its inaugural annual general meeting. Close to 100 members attended the meeting.
According to Professor Tillekeratne, the president of the newly formed organization, the vision and the mission of CUFSAA is to foster, maintain and support a mutually beneficial relationship between the alumni of the Colombo University science faculty living in North America, the University of Colombo, and the community at large.
Even though the organization has been in existence for barely six months, it has started working on its goals and already made several positive contributions. A book drive organized by CUFSAA has members collecting books and delivering them for the Science Faculty departmental libraries while visiting Sri Lanka. During the recent floods, CUFSAA created an emergency fund and provided financial support and scholarships and monthly stipends to several affected science faculty students.
Another initiative that has already borne fruit is the CUFSAA mentorship project where members volunteer to be mentors to recent graduates coming to the US and Canada for further studies.Additional information available at www.cufsaa.org