UCC in San Francisco, The Other City by The Bay!
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UCC in San Francisco, The Other City by The Bay!
02.03.2011
Friends of Cork and UCC living in the Bay Area turned out in force on February 17th to attend an information evening organised by UCC's International Education Office (IEO), in cooperation with members of the Cork-San Francisco Sister City Committee. The event formed part of the IEO’s promotional drive in the US which has historically targeted high schools on the Northeast and Midwest of the US but which has broadened more recently to attract interest on the West Coast, in particular San Francisco, an American city close to the heart of Corkonians.

The event, hosted by Saint Ignatius College Preparatory - one of San Francisco's top ‘prep’ schools designed to prepare students for a university education - was attended by high school students from the Bay Area who are considering pursuing undergraduate studies at UCC. Students were joined by their parents, UCC alumni and friends of Cork drawn from San Francisco's strong Irish-American community. Consul General of Ireland in San Francisco, Gerry Staunton, introduced the event, offering a welcome dose of positivity in his address, which focussed on the high quality of Irish education and the particular demand for Irish and UCC graduates in and around the Bay Area. He remarked:  "The calibre of Irish graduates who are working in senior positions in the Bay Area is proof positive of the value of an Irish university education.

The central element of the evening was a presentation by Louise Tobin, Director of International Student Recruitment and Strategy at UCC, who offered the audience a flavour of the range of academic programmes available at UCC, placing particular emphasis on the affordability of a UCC education at a time when many American families are finding the cost of college education at home to be out of their reach. Commented Tobin: “ We are noticing an increase in the number of American families who are now considering UCC as an option for undergraduate study. UCC offers a quality education at a cost that is significantly lower than that charged by American colleges of similar academic standing. Word is getting out that a UCC education is a very good deal from all points of view.” The presentation also highlighted interesting parallels between Cork and San Francisco, from the 2009 partnering of the Blackrock Observatory with the Chabot Space & Science Center to the unusual tourist attractions of Spike Island and Alcatraz, two former prison islands!

Real life illustrations of the benefits of a UCC education were offered on the night by two distinguished UCC graduates, one Irish and one Chinese.  Olan Kenneally, a Cork native now a partner at Accenture in San Francisco, spoke enthusiastically about the UCC student experience which allowed him combine rigorous academics with a rich extra-curricular life that spanned windsurfing, rugby and scuba diving. Dr. Shuze Tang, a PhD graduate of UCC’s Food Science programme and now a professor at Jinan University in Southern China, waxed lyrical about his own experience as a student at UCC which has been followed by his daughter Yirong, who obtained two degrees from UCC. “We are a UCC family”, he explained. “As well as my daughter and myself, my son-in-law. Wang Jun, is also a UCC PhD graduate in Computer Science who is working in a hi-tech position in the Bay Area. All three of us are proud to be graduates of UCC. I encourage all students here tonight to consider taking your degree at UCC; you will not find a better university in the world!”

Willing to take up Dr. Tang’s challenge, Tara McElligott, a senior student at Mercy High School in Burlingame announced:  “I plan on applying for UCC rightaway. This evening’s session was amazing; just so informative. My sister was a Study Abroad student at UCC and loved the whole experience. The campus is stunning and the representatives I’ve met here tonight have been super-friendly. I have family in Kerry and I know I’m going to feel right at home in Cork. “

Cork-born Diarmuid Philpott, the city’s retired Deputy Chief of Police who now heads up the Cork-San Francisco Sister City Committee and is President of the United Irish Societies of San Francisco, noted on the night:  “This was a superb event. Parents and students displayed great interest in a UCC education and I feel sure that UCC is going to attract many more applicants from San Francisco as a result of the presentation tonight”. Closing the event, Louise Tobin, expressed her gratitude to the Sister City Committee, especially Diarmuid Philpott and Kathleen Ryan, for all their help and hospitality during UCC’s visit. “Tonight’s event has brought our two cities that little bit closer”, she concluded. “We look forward to welcoming our San Francisco “cousins” to Cork in the future.”

Further information on UCC’s international programmes is available at:  website: www.ucc.ie/international e-Brochure:   www.ucc.op-ireland.com  Blog:  http://uccinternational.wordpress.com/

Picture L-R: Dr Shuze Tang, Olan Kenneally, Louise Tobin, Gerry Staunton, Consul General, Diarmuid Philpott and Kathleen Ryan.

 



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