Old friends gathered and new cross-generational connections formed during the 2025 Freunde/Pan European Alumni Reunion weekend held November 7–9 in Brussels, Belgium.Nearly 50 alumni and friends representing five decades of I-House traveled from Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA to attend the three-day weekend of meetings, tours, and dinners.Belgium is one of the six founding members of the European Union, and Brussels serves as the de facto capital of the European Union as home of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and, along with...

Robert Badinter (1928-2024), the distinguished lawyer and former French Minister of Justice renowned for abolishing the death penalty in his country, was honored with induction into the Panthéon in Paris on October 9. Badinter, who lived at International House while studying at Columbia University in 1948-49, joined such historic figures as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, and Simone Veil with the honor, and is the subject of an exhibition at the national mausoleum through March 8: Robert Badinter, la justice au cœur. Best known for his key role in ridding France of the guillotine...

What does it take to brew a coffee empire in the world’s greatest city? According to I-House alumna and Joe Coffee co-founder Gabby Rubinstein ’97, it starts with passion, kindness, and a little theatricality. Rubinstein joined the I-House community for a high-energy conversation on entrepreneurship on October 8. The talk was part of a new series sponsored by the Götz Mäuser ’91 Global Entrepreneurship Fellowship, a new program at I-House designed to empower next-generation changemakers to lead with empathy, resilience, integrity, and cultural intelligence. I-House President...