There was always a tone of excitement in their voices when I met our alumni and heard their VIA stories during our 55th anniversary last year. This was not only a heartening experience for me, but I was also extremely excited to be reminded of the ripple effect of what our founder Dwight Clark started in 1963. As Dean of Freshmen Men at Stanford, Dwight engaged students in conversations about what kind of a person they want to become and led them to do service work in Hong Kong. This was the beginning of VIA that consequently provided thousands of people from the U.S. and Asia, including myself, the opportunity to go across the pacific and embark on a VIA journey that broadened our worldview and led to new career and life options. Among the alumni I talked with last year is Phil Chritton who met his future wife when he was a VIA volunteer in China in the 80’s and spent many years of his career in Asia. What is fascinating about Phil’s journey with VIA is that his daughter Monica joined the VIA family as a Global Community Fellow in 2017 (introduced on p.4 of this report) and served at a vocational training center in Myanmar. Another alumna that has passed the VIA torch to a new generation is June Gordon who served in Taiwan in the 70’s and is currently a professor at UC Santa Cruz. To help her students deepen their understanding of what they learn through her courses, June has encouraged many of them to spend time in Asia with VIA. You can read about one of her students, Daniel Romo’s experience on p.3.
VIA Programs 2017-18 Annual Report
