On November 23, the Romanian Alumni Community met to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. The event brought together over 100 Romanian alumni of U.S. Government-sponsored exchange programs to the United States such as Fulbright, IVLP, Hubert H. Humphrey, Ron Brown, New Century Scholars, Benjamin Franklin Summer Institute, Young Leaders Dialogue with America and Study of the U.S. Institutes, but also U.S. Fulbright grantees and alumni who are currently in Romania.

The event started with welcome speeches from Dr. Remus Pricopie, President of the Romanian Fulbright Board of Directors, Ms. Patricia Guy, Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy and Ms. Edwina Sagitto, Cultural Officer at the U.S. Embassy. After welcoming the guests, U.S. Fulbright grantees Katelyn Arlene Browher and Nicole Kay Wells introduced us in the Thanksgiving history, customs & traditions.

Besides the essential aspect of networking between alumni, becoming reacquainted, meeting new alumni, sharing experiences and increasing the visibility of the U.S. Government sponsored exchange programs brand overall, the event was an occasion to meet for a celebration of Thanksgiving, an American tradition which tried to recreate the atmosphere lived by the Romanian alumni during their grants in U.S. and made the U.S. grantees in Romania feel more like home, in an open and relaxed atmosphere.

We are grateful to all the Romanian and U.S. alumni and grantees who have joined us at the event and we take this opportunity to thank our guest speakers. Pictures are available on the Facebook page.