People often criticize LUMS for being an elitist institute that is not really for the masses of Pakistan. The video below might answer this criticism. If you like what you see, try donating to the LUMS National Outreach Program here.

To keep alumni informed about the developments at LUMS as well as alumni news/achievements, the alumni department has developed a midyear newsletter. The first edition of this newsletter is embedded at the end of this post. Alternatively, a PDF version is also available: LUMS Alumni Newsletter 2009

Some LUMS and GIKI alumni have launched a new social gaming network - Varsity Heroes. The idea seems quite interesting and within a few days of launch they have attracted hundreds of users. In their own words, "Varsity Heroes is a more fun way of social networking where you get to diss other networks, take up guns against them and remind them of their grannies. All that in 2 minutes a day". Check out Varsity Heroes here. Continue reading this post to read a comic about their story. They have a facebook page as well.

by Khuban Omer Khan

Nadeem Aslam's latest book The Wasted Vigil is set in Afghanistan where people of different ideologies and religion cross paths, while searching for something or someone .When I read Aslam's book I was taken aback by numerous misquotes attributed to the Quran. To find out more about Aslam, his book and why he chose to defame the Quran, especially in the current climate, I attended a reading of his novel at LUMS. I asked him, "Mr. Aslam, your fictional book is based in reality, it's not make believe right? And in it you have described the mindset of a jihadi. Now, an American journalist who has written a review of your book in the New York Times has said that 'those unfamiliar with Islam may misconstrue your characters' thoughts as being consistent with the faith'. How would you respond to this statement? Also, do you have any obligation to your reader to present an informed fictional account or can you write anything at all without any obligation to the audience of the message's veracity?" Discomfort was writ large on the faces of much of the uber-liberal audience. It was as if I had attacked the man simply by asking him why he chose to misquote the Holy Book. While Aslam struggled to answer, he was politely interrupted by the moderator, who did not want a discussion on religion (even though she had earlier commented on how the book revolves around religion) and an audience member who said, "well this is how jihadis think, it's time we accepted that." After that I was silenced.

LUMS published their Alumni Magazine for 2008 in December. This year the central theme was the alumni perspective of the workplace. The magazine is embedded at the end of this post. Alternatively, a PDF version is also available: LUMS Alumni Magazine 2008 With the growing size of the alumni body, the class notes are fast becoming a big dead tree on paper. Maybe they need to re-invent that section.

Last January, LUMS Career Development Office hosted a session on graduate studies. They invited a few alumni to share their experience with current students. The session covered topics like admissions, funding, and PhD vs. Masters debate. Below are the slides used at the LUMS graduate session: Graduate Studies Talk There is also a similar talk given at UC Berkeley by Jacob Scott. A copy of Jacob's slides are here. Students may find these two talks useful.