Spring 2013
Around the Quads
Bernice Tsai ’96 Heads CC Alumni Affairs
Bernice Tsai ’96 became senior executive director of Columbia College Alumni Affairs on January 7, bringing the perspective of an alumna as well as considerable corporate experience in marketing and communications to this important position.
“Bernice is looking forward to working with all of our dedicated and committed alumni, and to expanding the number of alumni who are actively engaged with the College,” Dean James J. Valentini said. “Her strong background in marketing and her passion for the College will enable her to strengthen the connections between former students and the College, and among former students themselves.”
Tsai, who for several years interviewed prospective Columbia students as a member of the Alumni Representative Committee, came to the College from Citigroup, where she headed a new team focused on driving engagement and loyalty. She previously spent 12 years at American Express, where she led marketing efforts for several of the company’s membership-based businesses.
“This is a rare opportunity for me to take the concrete skills that I have and marry them with a mission that to me is very personal, very meaningful and contributes to the future of an institution that I believe in and love,” she said.
Senior Executive Director of Alumni Affairs Bernice Tsai '96 (right) with Laura Lopez '92, a member of the executive committee of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Photo: Eileen BarrosoTsai
majored in English literature at the College and earned an M.B.A. at
Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She notes that while the mission
and goals of CC Alumni Affairs are being refined as part of the development of
a five-year plan, her focus will be on alumni engagement.
“We want to build a lifelong relationship with our alumni (starting at the point when someone is a student) that creates opportunities for alumni to be involved in ways that are meaningful to them — volunteering at events, providing experience as mentors, advocating for the College or participating in the fundraising work,” she explained. “We want to be inclusive, diverse and open, and allow alumni to partner in curating their experience as alums. We will focus on enhancing our communication approach, collaborating with the University and other key partners to create synergy and allow our alumni’s voices to help direct our effort to highest impact opportunities.”
Asked about her Columbia experience, she said, “My freshman year in Carman is particularly vivid. I recall students wandering the halls in their sweats or pajamas, carrying works from the Core and gathering in clusters to talk about these incredible books from some of the greatest thinkers of all time. Not only was there a sense of community and unity in all being connected to the Core, but also in hindsight there was the amazing juxtaposition of raw youth being exposed to monumental works that had transcended time — pretty powerful — while eating ramen cooked in tiny hotpots in their rooms!
“In terms of a moment, I remember the first spring, sitting next to The Thinker near Philosophy Hall and realizing it was an authentic cast by Rodin himself,” Tsai added. “Sitting there alone in the spring, with all this great intellectual activity around me, was such an inspiring moment and made me grateful for the opportunity and the environment to learn, explore and seek knowledge.”