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Keio University President Kohei Itoh, Vice-President Motohiro Tsuchiya, and Vice-President Akiyo Okuda attended the 28th Annual Presidents' Meeting (APM) of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), held in New Zealand from June 24 to 26. More than 130 APRU university presidents and staff attended the meeting. The theme for this year was “Oceans: The World's Challenges Divide Us, the Ocean Currents Connect Us,” where delegates discussed issues surrounding climate change, marine ecosystems, biodiversity conservation, and other related topics. During the closing ceremony, President Itoh highlighted the upcoming Senior International Leaders' Meeting (SILM), a gathering for vice-presidents working in international affairs at APRU member universities, which Keio plans to host in October 2024. The theme of this meeting will be “Learning without Limits,” and it shall serve as a forum to discuss ways to provide education for all, overcoming impediments such as age, nationality, economic situations, and geopolitics. President Itoh encouraged officials from APRU member universities to attend.

In addition, on June 23, prior to the Presidents' Meeting, President Itoh and Vice-President Okuda participated in the APWiL (Asia Pacific Women in Leadership) In-Person Summit. More than sixty university representatives attended the summit, including those from member universities who had previously participated as mentors and mentees during the APWiL Mentoring Program (one faculty member from Keio also attended). At the summit, President Itoh was a panelist during the session titled “The Role of University Leadership in Advancing Gender Equity,” where he shared Keio's experiences, strategies, and successes in promoting gender equity, and discussed the role other senior leaders can play in advancing these efforts. Also, Vice-President Okuda served as moderator and speaker in the event's keynote discussion titled “A Conversation on Driving Change Towards Gender Equality,” which explored various topics and allowed expert panelists to share valuable knowledge and insight about driving progress and meaningful change towards diversity, equity, and inclusion.