British and Irish Graduates in America
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British and Irish Graduates in America is a non-profit entity that was formed in 2006 to provide an umbrella organization for the US alumni groups of British and Irish universities and higher education institutions ("HEI").
The original idea behind British and Irish Graduates in America was conceived after an alumni event of the University of Edinburgh that was held in Boston, MA in 2004. Over after-dinner whiskeys, someone suggested organizing a larger event for alumni from several universities. There followed a meeting of local alumni representatives from a dozen British universities, hosted by the British Consul General for New England at his official residence in Boston, MA. Among the suggestions that were quickly adopted was to expand the scope of the proposed event to include US alumni of Irish universities, and the event was dubbed the British and Irish Universities Ball ("BIUB").
The First Annual British and Irish Universities Ball was held at Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge, MA on 23 September 2005. The Ball attracted some 220 alumni of British and Irish universities and was hailed as a great success. Many people observed that the alumni of British and Irish HEI did not have the kind of alumni support networks that are typical for alumni of American universities. The loose collaboration of alumni groups that had come together to organize the Ball was urged to organize similar events in future. To facilitate this, a new non-profit organization was formed, and British and Irish Graduates in America Inc was born.
British and Irish Graduates in America now organizes the annual British and Irish Graduates Ball, and occasional networking evenings and cocktail parties. It also maintains a website at www.biginamerica.net where individual alumni groups can share information about their events and services. The organization is managed by a small executive board and an informal committee of volunteers representing alumni from a broad cross section of British and Irish universities and HEI. The British Consul General for New England and the Irish Consul General in Boston are Honorary Directors.
