Brown Club OC 2025 - the Year in Review

Dear friends and fellow alumni,

2025 has been yet another year of change, challenge and progress for Brown Club Orange County. Your club held ten events in 2025 including:

1.      Jan. 31 - Lunar New Year dinner at Tasty Garden in Irvine

2.      Mar. 15 – Native Plant Restoration Day of Service with Surfrider Foundation in Seal Beach

3.      Mar. 18 – Nowruz dinner at Darbari Grill, Costa Mesa

4.      April 27 – Badlands Park Hike, Laguna Niguel

5.      May 29 – Classic Alumni Happy Hour at Muldoon’s in Newport Beach

6.      July 30 – Summer Meet-Up at Hangar 24 in Irvine

7.      Aug. 16 – Class of ’29 Summer Send-Off party, San Juan Capistrano

8.      Sept. 23 – Crystal Cove Beach Bonfire, Newport Beach

9.      Oct. 6 – Korean Chuseok Dinner, Tustin

10. Nov. 19 – Classic Alumni Happy Hour at Muldoon’s in Newport Beach

Unfortunately, we had to cancel an encore visit in May by Dean Ashish Jha due to the funding cuts by the Trump administration. The great news was that Brown successfully navigated the storm and came out with arguably the best arrangement of any peer institution that was facing similar threats.

For the past 16 years since we began holding events in 2009, I have been writing year-end messages to you – the members and supporters of this club – reporting on our growth, progress and future plans. This year is a little different and, I have to admit, bittersweet for me as I proudly announce that we held our annual board election this past Tuesday, and Arisha Ashraf A.M. ’05 has taken the helm as club president along with her co-president, John Choi A.B. ’95. Shawn Verma ’13, MD ’18 joins them as club Vice President, Carl Schulkin Ph.D.'64, P'93, P'96 will continue as Treasurer, Ed Miskevich ’79 will continue as Secretary/Historian, and I will continue as a board trustee. We have numerous committees and chair positions available, and I encourage you to contact Arisha at browncluboc@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved.

Serving as president since this club’s inception has been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life. I have met new people, made so many new friends, learned new things and grown to appreciate Brown’s contributions to society even more as a result of my involvement with its alumni community in Orange County and beyond. In large part due to this club, Brown is now “on the map” of Orange County. More importantly, Orange County is on Brown’s map. No longer thought of as just a part of Los Angeles, Brown leaders now recognize we are a distinct, vibrant, reliable community that, as I like to say, punches above our weight when it comes to organizing successful events.

If you are reading this, chances are you have attended our events and contributed to the success of this club. Perhaps you saw Dean Hazeltine when we hosted him to celebrate Brown’s sesquicentennial? Or listened to the Earthquake Lady Lucy Jones’ lecture on the likely impact of a major temblor in Southern California? How about Barbara Tannenbaum’s 2013 presentation on Public Speaking or Xeno Muller’s riveting 2014 discussion about his quest for Olympic Gold, Christine Paxson’s 2017 presentation about the Brown Promise or Ashish Jha’s 2021 visit to talk about Covid and public health? These are only a few of almost 150 lectures, plays, days of service, visiting team games, interview days, discussions with authors, mixers, cultural events, and à capella concerts organized and supported by this club, its partner organizations and our members like you.

Do you have any memories you would like to share of a BCOC event you have enjoyed over the past 16 years? Something you learned, something that motivated you? We would love to hear from you and invite you to contact us with your thoughts, memories and ideas. Check out our past events page at https://www.browncluboc.org/gallery Write us at browncluboc@gmail.com and don’t forget to subscribe by scrolling to the bottom of any page on our website at https://www.browncluboc.org/

We look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you in the New Year. Happy Holidays!

-Scott