THE OWL - College Year in Athens

THE OWL
T H E A L U M N I N E W S L E T T E R O F C O L L E G E Y E A R I N AT H E N S
FALL 2015
Inside
Y
Y
Y
Y
Lecture Series, page 4
Think Differently, page 7
Alumni Profile, page 11
Ambassador Program, page 12
CYA student Rocio Ortega (DePaul University)
interacting with refugees during the Think
Differently cultural exchange event featured
on page 7.
5 P L AT E I A S TA D I O U , AT H E N S , G R E E C E
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
K. Chris Todd
Chairman, Board of Trustees, College Year in Athens;
Partner, Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel,
PLLC
Raphael Moissis
Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, College Year in
Athens; Vice Chairman, Foundation for Economic
& Industrial Research (IOBE) - Greece; Honorary
Chairman, AB Vassilopoulos S.A.
Peter Sutton Allen (CYA ’65)
Treasurer, Board of Trustees, College Year in Athens;
Professor of Anthropology, Rhode Island College
Constantine P. Petropoulos
Assistant Treasurer, College Year in Athens; Chairman
of the Board, Petros Petropoulos A.E.B.E.
Daphne Hatsopoulos
Secretary, Board of Trustees, College Year in Athens;
Trustee, Boston Museum of Science; Director, Pharos
LLC
John McK. Camp II
Director of the Agora Excavations, American School of
Classical Studies at Athens
Anastassis G. David
Member of the Board, Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Co.
Mark D. Desjardins
Headmaster, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas
Ioannis Filiotis
Partner, Lambadarios Law Firm
Dimitri Gondicas
Director, Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, Princeton
University
Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos (CYA ‘83)
Professor of Neuroscience, University of Chicago
John C. Hermansen (CYA ‘71)
Founder & CEO, Language Analysis Systems, Inc.;
IBM Distinguished Engineer (ret.)
Samuel Holzman (CYA ‘10)
Alumnus Trustee
Thanos Veremis
Professor of Political History, University of
Athens; Vice Chairman, ELIAMEP
Lily Macrakis
Special Counselor to the President of Hellenic
College-Holy Cross
Artemis A. Zenetou
Executive Director, Fulbright Foundation in Greece
James R. McCredie
Sherman Fairchild Professor Emeritus and Former
Director, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University;
Director, Excavations in Samothrace
TRUSTEES EMERITI
George A. David
Chairman of the Board, Coca Cola Hellenic
Bottling Co.; Chairman Non Executive, Eurobank
Stephen G. Miller
Professor of Classical Archaeology Emeritus,
University of California at Berkeley; Former Director,
Excavations at Nemea
George N. Hatsopoulos
Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Thermo Electron
Corporation; CEO, Pharos LLC
Thomas J. Miller
Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece; President/CEO,
International Executive Service Corps (IESC)
Joan Caraganis Jakobson (CYA ‘65)
Free-Lance Writer; Advisory Board, Wesleyan Writers
Conference; Trustee, New York Historical Society
Gregory Nagy
Director, Center for Hellenic Studies; Francis Jones
Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor
of Comparative Literature, Harvard University
Edmund Keeley
Straut Professor of English Emeritus and
Director of Hellenic Studies Emeritus, Princeton
University
Kitty P. Kyriacopoulos
Honorary Chairman, S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.
Gene Rossides
President, American Hellenic Institute Foundation
Mary R. Lefkowitz
Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities
Emerita, Wellesley College
Alan Shapiro (CYA ‘69)
W.H.Collins Vickers Professor of Archaeology, The
Johns Hopkins University; Whitehead Professor at
the American School of Classical Studies at Athens,
1992-93, 2012-13
Polyvios Vintiadis
Director, Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co.
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Rhoda Borcherding
Director of Study Abroad (retired), Pomona College
John Brademas
Former U.S. Congressman; President Emeritus,
New York University
Nikiforos P. Diamandouros
Professor of Comparative Politics, University of
Athens; Former Greek Ombudsman
Yannis Ioannides
Max & Herta Neubauer Chair & Professor of
Economics, Tufts University
Jack Davis
Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology,
University of Cincinnati; Former Director of the
American School of Classical Studies at Athens
George Komodikis
Investment Consultant; Managing Director, Madison
Holdings
Christos Doumas
Professor of Archaeology Emeritus, University of
Athens; Director, Excavations at Akrotiri, Thera
Ulysses Kyriacopoulos
Chairman, S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.
Nicholas Gage
Writer; Journalist
Laetitia La Follette (CYA ’75)
Professor of History of Art & Architecture, University
of Massachusetts Amherst
Thomas W. Gallant (CYA ’76)
Nicholas Family Endowed Chair, Professor of Modern
Greek History, University of California, San Diego
Alexander Nehamas
Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the
Humanities, Professor of Philosophy and Comparative
Literature, Princeton University
Peter Green
James R. Dougherty Jr. Centennial Professor of Classics Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin; Adjunct
Professor of Classics, University of Iowa
Daphne Pezaris Maramaldi (CYA ’91)
Alumna Trustee; Assistant Director, Office of
International Education, Harvard University
Michael Herzfeld
Ernest E. Monrad Professor of the Social Sciences in
the Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Alexis G. Phylactopoulos
President, College Year in Athens
Martha Sharp Joukowsky
Professor Emerita of Old World Archaeology and Art,
Brown University; Director, Petra Southern Temple
Excavations; Former President of the Archaeological
Institute of America
Anne F. Rothenberg (CYA ‘66)
Trustee, The Huntington Library Art Collections and
Botanical Gardens
Elias Samaras
Founder, President and Managing Director, Digital
Security Technologies S.A.
Gerald Lalonde
Professor of Classics, Grinnell College
Artemis Leontis
Associate Professor of Modern Greek, University
of Michigan
Deadline for submissions for the next OWL: March 1, 2016
2|
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
Andrea Nanetti
Associate Professor in Art History and Heritage
Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Monteagle Stearns
Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece; Author
Stephen V. Tracy
Former Director, American School of Classical Studies
at Athens; Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University
Voula Tsouna
Professor of Philosophy/Chair, UC-Santa Barbara
Charles Kaufman Williams II
Director Emeritus, Corinth Excavations, American
School of Classical Studies
ADMINISTRATION
Athens Office
Alexis Phylactopoulos, President
Peggy Myresiotou, Director of Administration
Theoni Scourta, Director of Academic Affairs
Nadia Meliniotis, Director of Student Affairs
Maria Tsahas, Registrar - Fundraising Officer
Popi Baloglu, Director of Housing and Catering
Carol Carr Stavropoulos, Art Director
Maria Malliou, Financial Officer
Georgia Katsarou, Librarian
Vasso Matrakouka, Short-term Program Coordinator
Popi Triantafyllidi, Project Manager
Jennifer Holland (CYA ’99), Student Services
Vana Bica, Accountant
Vassilis Karavasilis, Short-Term Program Assistant
Kallia Alexandridi, Housing & Catering Assistant
North American Office
Cornelia Mayer Herzfeld (CYA ‘66), Vice President,
North American Office
Erica Huffman (CYA ‘93), Associate Director of
Administration, Campus and Alumni Relations
Katie Sievers, Administrative Support Coordinator
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
F
or the casual visitor to Greece, not very
much seems to be out of place. The
weather, God’s greatest gift to the country,
is always mild even in the middle of winter,
the monuments are always in their place;
and Athenians, despite their suffering, find
ways to relax a bit in the outdoor cafes and
restaurants. But behind this gentle facade,
there is another world, one which the fleeting eye will not easily catch. Family budgets
are in such poor condition that any expense
not absolutely necessary for survival has
been abandoned. There is huge unemployment, diminished economic activity, and
a general lack of trust toward the State.
There is tension in the air and various daily
manifestations speak of it, the graffiti on
the walls being one of them. The time of
economic recovery still seems very far away.
As if all of this was not enough, the
country has to manage the cataclysmic
influx of refugees seeking a better life as
they flee from nearby countries torn by
war. Since the beginning of the year about
700,000 persons have negotiated the stretch
of water separating the eastern Greek
islands from the Turkish coast. Their arrival
has been an enormous jolt to Greek society.
Recent reports speak of 5,000 to 7,000 new
arrivals daily at Lesbos, itself an island of
85,000 inhabitants. The migrants arrive on
anything that floats, very often the crossing
interrupted by the voluntary sinking of their
boats. In these circumstances the Greek
Coast Guard can only engage in rescue
operations but still many of the passengers,
sometimes little children, drown at sea.
Several registration centers have been
established on the island of Lesbos, and its
people and those of other islands -Samos,
Leros, Kos, Symi- have shown the real
spirit of hospitality. The Greek population
at large has exhibited only compassion and
empathy for the refugees, perhaps remembering that 1.5 million Greeks had the same
fate and had crossed the same waters to
Greece about a hundred years ago after the
catastrophe of 1922. Signs welcoming the
refugees are evident in many public places
on the islands and many reports speak
of the warm reception of the migrants by
the locals, who are themselves stretched
beyond belief.
For CYA students the economic
crisis and the influx of the refugees is an
opportunity to learn about the world’s
condition, the state of European integration
or lack thereof, and the way democracy can
function under terrible stress. CYA offers a
very popular course on the economic crisis
taught jointly by a political economist and a
European affairs analyst. Another course on
Ethnography has a service learning component, which allows students to participate
in volunteer community service. This takes
the form of working in soup kitchens,
teaching English to refugees, and helping
and entertaining their children. There is also
a course on Immigrants-Citizenship and
Nationalism, which deals extensively with
immigration. Furthermore, in summer 2016
a special course entitled “The Global Governance of Migration: Emerging Responses to
Irregular Migration” will be offered, taking
students to Lesbos and Brussels. For CYA
students Greece today is a laboratory of
study in international relations and human
affairs.
The recent terrorist episodes in France
provide yet another dimension. Navigating safely through the turbulent European
waters teaches our students more about
international affairs, politics, and the
human condition than any course at their
home campus could offer. This is the great
contribution of study abroad to this generation of students. As young Americans about
to join the professional world in the US and
overseas, they will bring to their future jobs,
along with curricular knowledge, an understanding of the religious, racial, ethnic,
and gender complexities of today’s world.
CYA’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
Chris Todd, has said on numerous occasions
that if the past generation of our politicians
had the benefit to study in another culture,
many mistakes might have been avoided
and the world today might have been more
stable and safer. CYA is tirelessly working in
this direction: educating its students in the
value of understanding other cultures and
speaking other languages as a way for them
to become better citizens and wiser leaders.
ALEXIS PHYLACTOPOULOS , President
ADDRESSES
GREECE
USA
SOCIAL MEDIA
DIKEMES
5 Plateia Stadiou
GR-116 35 Athens, Greece
Tel: +30 210 7560-749
Fax: +30 210 7561-497
E-mail: programs@dikemes.edu.gr
COLLEGE YEAR IN ATHENS
PO BOX 390890
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617 868-8200
Fax: 617 868-8207
E-mail: info@cyathens.org
www.cyathens.org
facebook.com/CYAthens
flickr.com/cya_dikemes
cyathens.tumblr.com
instagram.com/cyathens#
pinterest.com/cyathens/
twitter.com/cyathens
FAL L 2015
|3
LECTURE SERIES
On April 15, Gregory Jusdanis, Professor
of Modern Greek Humanities Distinguished Professor, Department of Greek
and Latin at The Ohio State University,
gave a talk on his favorite subject, Constantine Cavafy, titled How Cavafy Conquered
the World.
Cavafy lived in Alexandria, a peripheral
city, and wrote in Greek, a not so widely
used language. In his lifetime he published
only 154 poems and never in a collected
edition. Moreover, he wrote frankly about
homoerotic desire and focused on the Hellenistic period and the time of late antiquity
rather than the celebrated classical epoch.
In short, he was not a candidate for global
stardom. In his captivating lecture Jusdanis
discussed some of the reasons why Cavafy
has emerged as one of the most important
poets of the twentieth century.
On February 25, the CYA students who
participated in the Voula excavation during
our January 2015 intersession program gave
a presentation of their experiences and the
discoveries made during the two weeks of
working on-site. Their instructor, Dr. John
Karavas, opened the presentation providing historical background and material
content. This presentation was an important conclusion to the students’ educational
experience.
On March 2, CYA held a public discussion with Ms. Jhumpa Lahiri, a Pulitzer
Prize-winning writer and recently appointed faculty in Creative Writing at Princeton
University. The discussion, led by Journalist
Marilena Astrapellou, covered Ms. Lahiri’s
literary work and touched on her personal
experiences as an Indian ex-pat in the UK
and the US. The event was co-sponsored by
CYA, the Princeton Alumni Club of Greece,
and Metaixmio Editions.
4|
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
On March 30, architect Petros Babasikas,
founding member of the design collaborative Drifting City, co-Curator of the
Depression Era Project and Lecturer of
Architectural Design at the University of
Patras and CYA instructor, gave a lecture
titled Agora, Garden, Monument: Recent
Transformations in Athenian Public
Space. In the Depression Era, the ideal of
Public Space as a place of encounter, diversity and openness, where the individual
meets the city, seems lost. Mr. Babasikas
illustrated that a different set of places, at
the edge of the city, emerge: contemporary
Agoras, Gardens and Monuments, sheltered from the city, offering relief, ideology
and joy. Complemented with powerful
visual images, his talk focused on their
characteristics, how they nurture a new
type of citizen, and what architecture can
do to bring them back into the city.
L IBRARY N EWS
I
n spring 2015, the CYA Library
launched “CYA Library Subject
Guides”, a new tool that helps
students find some of the most useful
resources on their subject. The
guides are compiled by the Librarian
and the resources come either from
the library collections or from the
internet. The guides are not limited
only to the academic interests of
the students but also cover topics
that have to do with the culture of
Greece and the everyday life in
Athens. “CYA Library Subject
Guides” beta version is available at
http://subjectplus.dikemes.edu.
gr:22888/subjects/
C YA F EAT U R E D I N “ G R E E C E I S- D E MOCRACY ” PUBL ICATION
O
n the occasion of the Athens Democracy Forum that was organized by the
New York Times and the Greek newspaper
Kathimerini in early September, Kathimerini published a special edition called Greece
Is-Democracy, dedicated to democracy
then and now.
This special publication included a
two-page spread (p.144-45) on CYA entitled “Cultivating Philhellenes”, and featured
excerpts from short interviews given by
CYA alumni. It also carries, among
other exceptional articles,
essays by CYA Trustees John
Camp (p.48) and Thanos
Veremis (p. 130), and by CYA
professor Edward Harris
(p. 70).
Greece Is-Democracy was circulated
widely in all the venues of the conference
and is currently available at the new
Acropolis Museum, the Athens Concert
Hall, major hotels and elsewhere, and is,
indeed, a collector’s item. It is available
online at http://www.greece-is.com/
greece-is-democracy/
IN V IS IBL E TOURS
T
his past spring, CYA students taking the
service-learning course Citizen, State
& Society: A Service Learning Approach
explored Athens along with their instructor,
Dr. Aimee Placas, through a program called
“Invisible Tours” , which are organized by
Shedia. Locals know Shedia (which is Greek
for raft) as the organization behind the
city’s street newspaper, a paper which is
sold by individuals who are homeless as
way of earning income.“Invisible Tours” is
another of their ventures, whereby Shedia
newspaper sellers give tours of the city
from the perspective of the homeless.
Aimee and her students were led on their
tour through Athens by “the wonderful
Yannis”. He discussed homelessness, told
them his story, and showed them the spaces and services for people who are without
homes or who are vulnerable to homelessness. It was an amazing and very personal
experience. Students were able to come to
understand the challenges faced by Yannis,
and others in similar circumstances, from
his own words. Shedia also invited the
students to come back and play football
with their Athens homeless football team,
which they did!
S U N S ET ON T H E R O O F T O P
E
very summer, members of the CYA
Board of Trustees gather in Greece for
the annual Board meeting. This time, we
took advantage of the wonderfully cool
July evening to have a small gathering
on the rooftop terrace of the Academic
Center. And of course, what could be
more appropriate than a group photo with
the Acropolis and the setting sun as the
backdrop! In the photo, L/R: John Camp,
Jack Hermansen (‘71), Peter Allen (’65),
Artemis Zenetou, K. Chris Todd, Odysseas
Kyriacopoulos, Nicho Hatsopoulos (’83),
Sam Holzman (’10), Alexis Phylactopoulos,
Raphael Moissis.
THE O W L • FAL L 2015
|5
IN MEMORIAM
6|
Ernestine Friedl
Jim Rothenberg
CYA was saddened
to hear about the
passing of CYA
Advisor and pioneering anthropologist
Ernestine Friedl on
October 11, at the
age of 95. Ernestine
Friedl became a
close friend of CYA
in 1971-72 when her husband, Harry L.
Levy (who was later a member of the Board
of Trustees and for whom a CYA Scholarship is named), was teaching at CYA and
she was working on her book Women and
Men, which further developed her interest
in gender roles that had appeared in her
earlier work.
A graduate of Hunter College and
with a PhD from Columbia University, she
taught at Wellesley College and at Queens
College of the City of New York. Ernestine
Friedl’s book, Vasilika: A Village in Modern
Greece, published in 1962, was the first
American ethnographic study of a Greek
community, and was followed by a co-edited volume and some influential articles on
the anthropology of Greece.
Friedl was president of the American Ethnological Society in 1967 before
being selected as a Fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1976 and
appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the
National Science Board in 1978.
She was known for her work studying modern Europe—a comparative rarity
among anthropologists when she began
her research—and gender roles. In 1973
she was named James B. Duke Professor of
Anthropology and Chair of the Department
of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, a position she held until 1978. She
went on to serve as the first female Dean of
Trinity College from 1980 until 1985, pushing forward initiatives to increase diversity
and overseeing the establishment of the
Women’s Studies program.
Friedl continued to be a close friend
and a valuable advisor of CYA through
the years. Actively interested in the future
of both anthropology and Greece, and
deeply engaged in Modern Greek Studies,
and with a gentle manner that sometimes
masked her fierce commitment to the
critical rethinking of women’s place in
society, she continued to be deeply interested in CYA’s activities and future, offering
the benefits of her long experience just a
month before her passing in the course
of a lively dinner meeting with CYA Vice
President Cornelia Herzfeld.
It is with deep sorrow that we learned
of the death of Jim
Rothenberg, husband of CYA Trustee,
Anne Fitzpatrick
(‘66) Rothenberg.
Jim was Chairman
of the Capital
Group mutual fund
company, a member of Harvard’s Board of
Overseers, Chairman of Harvard Management Co., and a co-Chair of The Harvard
Campaign. He was the Treasurer of Harvard
University until recently.
In recent years, Jim had become an
important part of the CYA family; he and
Anne were extremely generous to CYA
in its recent fundraising efforts.CYA has
benefitted from his wise counsel on many
fronts; he had even been participating
regularly as an observer in Board of Trustee
meetings.
Our thoughts now turn to Anne and
to her lovely family as we express our love
and our warmest condolences to her for
this untimely loss.
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
Dimitrios Nianias
CYA professor
Dimitrios Nianias,
passed away on
October 19, in
Athens. Professor
Nianias was a Greek
educator and politician who taught at
CYA from 1968-74,
and again for the
academic year 1998-99. Many students
may recall their walks with him, discussing
a philosophical point or another.
Nianias studied Literature and Philosophy at the University of Athens with
postgraduate studies in Oxford, England. In
1965 he was elected Professor at the Athens Polytechnic Institute, School of Philosophy and Logic, and in 1972 he transferred
to the School of Sociology and Culture.
He entered politics in 1974 when he was
first elected to the Hellenic Parliament,
representing the region of the island of
Lesvos, with the party of New Democracy.
From 1978 until 1980 he served as Minister
for Culture and from 1989 to 1994 he was a
member of the European Parliament.
“The nobleman of politics from
Lesvos”, as he was called, spent his life
between Lesvos and Athens. His memorial service was held in Athens but he was
buried on his beloved island of Lesvos.
Alan Boegehold
Alan Boegehold,
renowned classicist and emeritus
faculty member
from Brown, died
on October 30,
2015. Alan had a
long relationship
with College Year in
Athens, dating back
to academic year 1964-65, the year that
I was a CYA student. I and several of my
classmates were disappointed that CYA did
not offer a class specifically in the archaeology of Greece. Always accommodating,
Mrs. Phyl promised us one for the second
semester. She was unable to find anyone to
teach an entire semester, so she cobbled together what she called her “all star” course
– each of several archaeological luminaries
would teach his/her own specialty for a
week or two and the entire course would
be overseen by Nicholas Yalouris, Ephor of
Antiquities for the southwestern Peloponnese, an area that includes such sites
as Olympia, Bassae and Pylos. Alan, who
was spending a sabbatical at the American
School of Classical Studies, was enlisted
to do a section on his specialty, epigraphy.
He later told me that he had been a bit
skeptical about the quality of the CYA students, figuring that many were not serious
students but just in Greece to have a good
time. When he discovered that the few students taking the class were indeed serious
(three of us later got PhDs in related fields),
he gave us the royal treatment. He carefully
outlined the mutual benefits of epigraphy
and archaeology and near the end of his
teaching stint arranged for the class to visit
the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum where, among other things,
he demonstrated the making of a squeeze.
[This is a means of helping clarify damaged
and worn inscriptions in stone and involves
laying a piece of special construction paper
over the inscription, wetting it, and then
beating it with a stiff brush. When removed
the paper bears a 3-dimensional image of
the inscription that is far easier to read than
just looking at the inscription itself.]
Not long after this, Alan became a
member of the Board of Advisors to CYA
and helped introduce colleagues to the
program. One of them, Bill Wyatt, served
as a CYA Trustee for many years, and, like
Alan, would give lectures to CYA students
when in Athens. Alan also promoted
CYA beyond Brown University and helped
establish its credibility in the early years.
A year after my time with CYA I enrolled in a graduate program in anthropology at Brown University. One of the first
things I did was look up Alan and (re)introduce myself. Alan remembered me and
made a point of including me in Classics
Department affairs. We became fast friends
and for years we played squash together
early in the morning once or twice a week.
One day Alan called me and said he wanted to start a group to read Modern Greek
poetry together, in part because he had a
Greek-American student who he said had
an exquisite manner of rendering Modern
Greek. The student was Danae Cotsis, just
back from CYA. Another member of the
group was her classmate, Bill Wharton, also
just back from CYA. Bill and Danae subsequently married and Bill served two terms
as an Alumnus Trustee, 30 years later.
Although Alan was a classicist, he had
a real love of modern Greece and was fluent in modern Greek, somewhat of a rarity
among member of his generation. Late in
life he published a volume of poems by
Cavafy that he had translated.
Alan was a great scholar and a great friend.
He was a great supporter of CYA and
steered many students to the program.
He leaves his wife, Julie, his children and
several grandchildren. He will be greatly
missed by many.
Peter S. Allen, CYA ‘65
H E L P C YA G O G R E E N
If you are currently receiving a copy
of The Owl by mail but you would
rather access it online, please notify
us at info@cyathens.org (or use the
online form to let us know). We will
email you the link to The Owl when
it goes on our webpage. Thank you for
your consideration.
TH IN K D IF F E RE NTLY
On Wednesday, November 11th, a cultural
exchange event called Think Differently was
held at the recently constructed Refugee Camp
at Elaionas, an area beyond Kerameikos. The
event was sponsored by College Year in Athens
and the Greek Forum of Migrants, and was
organized by CYA student Ryan J. Mendoza
(University of Rochester) pictured below,
who wrote:
CE L E BRATIN G 4 5 Y E ARS
O F CYA CAM ARAD E RIE !
O
ver the 45 years that have gone
by since we all met at CYA in
1970-71, a stalwart band of us has
always remained close friends and
we have managed to get together for
something like 30 reunions in that
time. (An ‘official’ reunion requires a
minimum of 3 alums, and it must last
longer than one day — otherwise, it
is called ‘a visit’).
These reunions have mostly been
in the Chicago area, but have also
taken place in Virginia, Greece and, in
one protracted fit of bacchanalia, all
along the East Coast from Virginia to
NYC to Maine.
Dean Magagos, Skip Burhans,
and I formed the original core of this
group; Cathleen Asch felt compelled to join us about 15 years ago,
providing some much-needed adult
supervision. Now, we routinely meet
at her house in Barrington Hills, IL,
every August for a long weekend.
Guest appearances by other alums
have included such luminaries as
Jane Dampeer and Maureen Carpenter, among others.
Participants these days, including
children and grandchildren, typically number around 25. Some stay
at Cathleen’s house but most of us
commute from our nearby hotel to
her house from Thursday-Sunday.
Yes, some rituals have risen up over
the years, but these are more easily
understood in situ.
T
hink Differently sought to create an
environment in which CYA students
and refugees could interact with each
other by sharing a piece of one’s respective
culture. With such an environment, the goal
of the event was simply to bring a smile to
children and adults alike.
Helping refugees/migrants in addition
to meeting their immediate needs for food,
clothing, and shelter, we realized that it is
sometimes forgotten that no matter how
different our backgrounds are compared
to those of refugees/migrants, we all share
commonality with respect to being human.
Think Differently allowed us to contribute to their lives in a social manner.
This was accomplished through the sharing
of live music, card games, various crafts
(e.g. sock puppets, painting, making whales
out of paper plates, etc.), storytelling, jump
rope, group games and of course, a big
soccer game. These are just a few of the
events that took place during the students’
time at the event.
Think Differently would not have
been possible without the support of CYA’s
Director of Student Affairs Nadia Meliniotis, and CYA Professor Aimee J. Placas.
Also, a special thank you goes to Baba
Ghanoush Falafel Shop in Pagrati, for their
generous donation of falafel so that the
refugees/migrants could enjoy a little “taste
of home.”
Jack Hermansen’ 71
THE O W L • FAL L 2015
|7
DONORS
DONORS 2014–2015
CON TRI B UTOR
In the list below we have combined all gifts,
including matching gifts, received between
July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015. Thank you
again for your generosity and support.
Anonymous (in honor & memory of two very
different strong women, Anne Fuller & Ismene
Phylactopoulou)
$500 -$999
Mark Bevelhimer ‘78
John & Irene Sedgwick (‘65) Briedis
Penelope Brownell ‘82
Michael A. Chabraja ‘88
Edward Brzytwa III ‘98
Patron$10,000–$24,999
Barbara Follestad ‘96
Jonathan (‘89) & Elizabeth Clark
Sponsor$5,000–$9,999
Dimitri Gondicas
Mary Clark ‘72 & Brian Joseph ‘72
Supporter$1,000–$4,999
Rebecca Hawkins ‘74
Pamela Jones Clarke ‘65
Contributor All other gifts
Michael Hutchinson ‘92
Jane Roberts Coffin ‘92
Richard Neville ‘75
Dan Cohn-Sherbok ‘65
Christopher Penn ‘72
Patricia Conner ‘76
B E N E FA C T O R
Alexis & Mariella Phylactopoulos
Elizabeth E. Cook ‘76
George N. & Daphne Hatsopoulos P ‘83
Mary L. Pierson ‘73
Stephen Crilly ‘93
Ulysses Kyriacopoulos
Noel Hammer Richardson ‘81
Kelly Knapp Cullins ‘69
James F. & Anne (Fitzpatrick ‘66) Rothenberg
Nicholas X. Rizopoulos
Susan Cummings ‘74
Elias Samaras
Valentine Talland ‘80
Laura Cvengros ‘79
Polyvios & Regina (‘99) Vintiadis P’95
Sally Stanton de Vries ‘73
Deborah Wince-Smith ‘71
J. Mara DelliPriscoli ‘70
Benefactor
$25,000 and above
PAT RO N
M. Ann Dexter ‘65
K. Chris Todd & Amelia Gomez P ‘08, ‘09, ‘12
$250 - $499
Jennifer Donnellan ‘97
SPONSOR
Sarah Walton Clark ‘66
Steven Rost & Andrea Eis ‘72
Anonymous
Nicholas P. Daifotis ‘78, P’14
Sara Ehrensing Fernandez ’94
Jack (‘71) & Arlene Hermansen
Eli Davis ‘98
Ioannis Filiotis
Frederic E. Wittman & Christine Kondoleon
Charles Flateman ‘77
Anne Forbes ‘77
Laura Gadbery ‘76
Rebecca Furer ‘94
S U P P O RT E R
John H. Gill ‘77
Joseph Garnjobst ‘89
Anonymous
Michael E. Goodwin ‘09
Elizabeth DeFriez Gibson ‘70
Peter (‘65) & Susan Heuck Allen
Cathleen Asch Goss ‘71
Conway Clough Graft ‘76
Susan Blake ‘67
Peter Hatlie ‘80
Irene Grebenschikoff ‘78
John McK Camp II
Mary Lefkowitz
Gretchen Grozier ‘91
John (‘69) & Lydia (Cox ‘69) Chock
Bruce McGar ‘72
Donald Haggis ‘82
Mark Desjardins
Jane E. Osgood ‘75
Susan Ashbrook Harvey ‘74
Elizabeth King Filiotis ‘71
Sandra Pascal ‘64
Alice Henkin ‘74
Nicholas Hatsopoulos ‘83
Katherine Thatcher Shields ‘96
Morgan Grant Hilton ‘00
Kip Hughes ‘68
Mark Toher & Barbara Burek
Samuel Holzman ‘10
John Isley ‘71
Andrew Zaroulis ‘00 & Lindsey Wyckoff ‘00
Andrew Hoyt ‘01
Alexander Kavo ‘11
Scott Jones ‘94
8|
Amy Thurston Berthouex ‘73
George & Nitzia Embiricos (‘02) Logothetis
$100-$249
Thea Keamy ‘86
Michael & Cornelia Mayer (‘66) Herzfeld
Anonymous (2)
William Kontes ‘95
Alexander Nehamas & Susan Glimcher
Anonymous (in honor of Robert Lane)
Cassandra Koulet ‘65
Constantine P. Petropoulos
Karen Ferreira Amis ‘99
Matthew Kozlowski ‘04
Ciannait Sweeney Tait ‘65
Jarold Anderson ‘71
Priscilla Blackstock Kurz ‘66
Gay Quimby Auerbach ‘72
Nicholas Linardos ‘85
Andrea Vasila Ballas ‘70
Bonnie MacLeod ‘78
John J. Baughman (and in memory of Elizabeth
& John C Baughman)
Peggy Stiffler Madden ‘86
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
Katherine Matchett Mallalieu ‘75
Lynn Hecker Beyerle ‘68
Brian Martens ‘08
Peter Maramaldi ‘99 and Daphne Pezaris
Maramaldi ‘91, ‘99
Maria Karapelou Brown ‘91
Lazaros and Ivette Mavrides
Sylvia Brown ‘67
Margaret McGuire McCafferty ‘76
Linda Gagliardi Clarke ‘76
Maria McClatchey ‘14
Christopher (‘01) and Melissa Cordes
Gib Metcalf ‘74
Alden Cummins ‘72
Rebecca Proakis Mitchell ‘93
Erik DeMarche ‘10
Raphael Moissis
Anne Turner Deetz ‘83
Ann (Sease ‘68) Monoyios
Pune Dracker ‘88
Mary Newport ‘78
Alexander Edwards ‘13
Rebecca Nordstrom ‘68
Lee Elliott ‘67
Claire Burnside Och ‘05
Mary Light Sullivan Fairbanks ‘66
Constantine Zaharis and Rachel O’Malley ‘02
Susan Farewell ‘78
Demos Papadimas ‘06
Paul Fingersh ‘85
Ellen Parker ‘95
Michael Flint ‘10
Valerie (Gilmore) Paul ‘81
Lauren Kerr Freund ‘04
Deanna Petrochilos ‘95
Alison Fritz ‘02
Anthony Platis ‘00
Randy (Psari) Frusciante ‘96
Mia Rawleigh ‘13
Melanie Williams-Galutin ‘78
Pamela Sharpless Richter ‘73
Susan Clift Gislason ‘81
David Riefe ‘84
Suzanne (Vargo ‘87) Gorhau
Joanne Robillard ‘08
Michael Griffith ‘85
Jonathan Rowan ‘93
Emily Guadagno ‘08
Vicki (Rosenfeld) Rudnitsky ‘67
Stephanie Gunning ‘83
Alissa Rutledge ‘07
Kate Gurfein ‘05
Stephanie Schroeder
Megan Lewis Haddox ‘78
Maro Sevastopoulos ‘98
Emily Hanneman ‘10
Justin Smith ‘98
Efstathia Hantzopoulos ‘96 (in memory of
Helen Fidas Hantzopoulos ‘73)
Rachel Smith Spieczny ‘93
Jeremy & Marilyn (Martin ‘73) P ‘08 & Zachary
(‘08) Mark
Daniel Matlack ‘82
Daivd & Kimberly (Powers ‘76) Matthews ‘76
Laura Matz ‘73
Corey McIntosh ‘99
William Meeker ‘72
Paul Mitarachi & Barbara Kapp
Christine Petto ‘85
David A. Poggemeier ‘78
Mary Preis ‘94
Caroline (Smith) Pritchett ‘67
Janet (Greenberg) Razulis ‘76
Tave (‘82) and Lesley (Nelson ‘82) Reser
Thomas Roby ‘78
James T. Rodgers ‘84
David & Heather (Broxson ‘92) Rostker
Mitchell Rubin ‘81
Donna Sadler ‘70, P ‘05
Susan J. Sampliner ‘76
Erin Silkey ‘01
Sharon Slodki ‘70
Mrs. George G. Snowden III, P’94
Julie Swaner ‘68
Helen Tangires ‘77
Timothy Thurber ‘89
Serge Todorovich ‘96
Rev. John Tolley ‘71
Karen D. Vitelli ‘65
Christina West ‘97
Travis Wilson ‘91
Meph Wyeth ‘96
Artemis Zenetou
$1-$99
Anonymous (2)
Janet (Huelsen) Abri ‘72
Cheryl Emmert Abshire ‘84
Kelly McCutcheon Adams ‘92
Mark Alexander ‘73
Rachelle Wulwick Aron ‘68
Megan Ashley ‘10
Margaret Beck ‘79
Janer (Danforth) Belson ‘71
Anna Belza ‘11
Mimi Sprague Hauenstein ‘71
Katherine Hauge ‘14
Guy Hedreen ‘80
Laura Taylor ‘90
Megan Telfair ‘94
Elizabeth (Godfrey) Terry ‘75
Jennie Tucker ‘66
Margaret Heller ‘05
Thanos Veremis
Alison Hilton ‘68
Hannah Ware ‘10
Dana Horowitz ‘12
Katherine (Whitlow) Webster ‘74
Megan Jamison ‘91
Mark Weston ‘05
Harriet (Hetty) Jardine ‘69
Kathleen Modzelewski Wilkinson ‘98
Judith E. Jarmer P’94
Patrick & Phaedra (Saltis ‘95) Yachimski
Nancy (Newell) Jones ‘65
Mary Kay Karzas ‘74
Catherine Keane ‘91
Paula J. (Wheaton) Kemler ‘81
Patricia A. Kenter ‘84
Gary Klotz ‘73
Frederic Knapp ‘75
Linda Kriete ‘74
Alina Larson ‘90
AMAZON SMILE
Thank you to our alumni and friends
who used AMAZON SMILE for CYA
donations. For those of you who
want to know more, please visit
smile.amazon.com.
Eleanor Lindsay ‘67
THE O W L • FAL L 2015
|9
NAFSA RECEPTION
E
ducation Abroad colleagues and alumni and friends of CYA
came together at a reception for CYA in Boston. Guests and staff
enjoyed a cruise of the harbor aboard the Henry Longfellow boat,
and had an opportunity to discuss the merits of education abroad in
general and of CYA in particular while feasting on Greek delicacies.
The reception was held in conjunction with the NAFSA International Education Conference in May 2015.
Tonia Pizer (UCSD), Jodi Moen Bennett (St Olaf College), Kathy Tuma (St Olaf
College), Daphne Hatsopoulos (Board of Trustees)
Amy Suelzer (Washington U), Barbara Hoffman (Whitman C), Daphne
Pezaris Maramaldi ‘91, (Harvard U), Annmarie Whalen (Forum on Education
Abroad), Brian Whalen (Forum on Education Abroad)
Nea Herzfeld ‘66 (Vice President North American Office), Laura Matz ‘73,
Stephanie Pund (U of Colorado/Boulder)
Lauren Winogren (Rutgers U), Mike Rainaldi (Rollins C), Giselda Beaudin
(Rollins C), Jay Wilkinson (Simpson C)
Will Wharton ‘78, Mr. & Mrs. Damplo, Peggy Myresiotou (Director of
Administration), Zoe Damplo ‘98
10|
Steve Sawyer (Bates C), Alexis Phylactopoulos (President)
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
ALUMNI PROFILE
S I T D OW N , MY C H I LD
By Melissa Luttmann, CYA ‘15
W
hen I packed my bags for Greece, I
heard no dire warnings about the
country where I would spend the next several months away from family and friends.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t read the articles
that called Greece “hopeless,” or seen the
dramatic images of Athens in flames when
protesters set fire to 45 buildings across the
city in reaction to the Parliament passing
austerity measures—which happened just a
few months before my departure. But both
my parents are of the firm belief that the
media exaggerates anything, and Greece, in
their minds, was no exception to that rule.
Even relatives who believed the reports
coming from Greece and may have been
worried for me knew that telling me horror
stories about my chosen study abroad
destination was futile. I am a classicist, and
Greece is a classicist’s paradise—crisis or
no crisis. I was going to study there regardless of what anyone else had to say about it.
So I arrived in Athens in September
2013, expecting to have the time of my classics-obsessed life. And for about a week, I
did. The places I’d dedicated the past two
years to studying were now at my feet. The
main building of College Year in Athens
commanded a perfect view of the Acropolis
and the Panathenaic Stadium, and when
we weren’t in class, my friends and I were
rambling through other sites. I did see a
few things that irked my American sensibilities—anarchist graffiti scribbled on some
walls, police officers toting machine guns
in the National Gardens—but these things
faded into the background, partly because I
was so enthralled by the ruins. For the most
part, I couldn’t see what all the media’s fuss
was about.
About a week into my stay in Greece, I
injured my right knee. What I thought was
a simple bruise evolved into an odyssey
entailing three hospital visits, two crutches,
and, ultimately, my return to the United
States for reconstructive surgery. This
sounds like a miserable experience, and I
will not lie: in many ways, it was. But it was
also the experience that really introduced
me to the wonders of modern Greece. Even
An injured knee was not enough to keep Melissa
from enjoying the field trips, crutch and all.
though the archaeological sites I loved so
much now threatened to hurt me more
with every rock, I still wanted to explore
them (and I did, at a glacial pace). But I
began to spend the bulk of my time in my
own neighborhood’s cafes, bakeries and
tavernas. And in these places, I discovered
Greece’s true asset: its people.
Everyone who loves Greece writes
about the warmth of the people. But they
mention it because it is true. One of the
first phrases I learned to recognize in Greek
was Kathiste, paidi mou—“Sit down, my
child”—because people were constantly producing chairs for me. Pharmacists
dispensed hugs and kisses along with my
pain pills and strangers offered to carry
my groceries. And I could not believe how
many things I received for free from Greek
business owners. Bakers stuffed me with
free sweets in an attempt to make me feel
better; taverna owners brought out complimentary rounds of ouzo and toasted my
health.“No wonder they’re in debt,” my dad
said when I told him about this.“They give
so much stuff away that they never make
any money.” But for Greeks, I have come to
realize, it’s not about the money.
Giving a half kilo of cookies a week
to an injured girl will not help you turn a
profit, but actions like this do show the incredible love and respect for humanity that
pervades Greek culture. This is something
that the United States, with its all-consuming consumerism, has completely lost sight
of. And if the Greeks hold on to it, I believe
it is something that will sustain them far
beyond the current “crisis.”
There is one restaurant in Pangrati that
I frequented for its delicious sandwiches.
If the owner was there when I went in,
he’d sit with me while my food cooked and
ask about my knee. He did the same thing
right after my injury, when I was in his
restaurant at least once a week. And every
week—when it was obvious that I was in
pain and that it wasn’t getting any better—
he would pat my hand and repeat a single
phrase until I calmed down: “Siga, siga.”
Slowly, slowly.
I kept those words with me when I
had to return to the United States. In the
nights after my knee surgery, as I waited
for the painkillers to kick in and wondered whether I’d ever feel normal again, I
repeated them to myself. Siga, siga. Slowly,
slowly.
Greece, like my knee, is not going to
get better overnight. But I am healing, and
I believe that this country can too. I believe
in Greece, and, more importantly, I believe
in its people. I don’t deny that they have
made mistakes in the past, but I have hope
that they, dynamic and loving as they are,
will be able to move forward. I went to
Greece because I was in love with what it
was long ago, but I went back because I
have fallen in love with what I know it can
become. I look forward to the day when I
will be able to run, pain free, to the top of
the Acropolis. And I look forward to the
day when the world will see Greece for
what it is rather than for what the media
wants it to be.
The above article first appeared in the
College of the Holy Cross magazine,
http://magazine.holycross.edu/
is¬sue_49_1/49_1_alumninews/greece
THE O W L • FAL L 2015
|11
RUN N IN G INTO THE FU TU RE
O
Katelyn Kulaga and Jesse Metres doing an
AWESOME job of promoting CYA at USC’s fall
Study Abroad Fair!
* NEW * CYA A MB A SSA D O R PR O GRAM IS OF F TO A
GREAT S TA R T !
H
elp spread the word of CYA! We are looking for alumni who are back on campus and
are interested in becoming CYA Ambassadors. This year we have nearly 30 alumni
helping out!
The CYA Ambassador program is all about sharing your CYA experience with those on
your home campus. Ambassador duties may include things like: sitting with a rep at the
study abroad fair, giving an info session/presentation to students, presenting in classes,
hanging up posters, handing out flyers and/or serving as a contact for prospective CYA
students, etc. In exchange for performing 3 or more tangible Ambassador duties, you will
be offered a complimentary one-time stay in a CYA apartment*
Jane Berry
Teddy Rube
Harry Rube
David Jimenez
Zoe Wildasin
Lily Collier
Jack Bonatakis
Karina Grady
Meghan Vaillancourt
Katy Nave
Philip Dubow
Colleen Nugent
Dorothy Hazan
Salpi Bocchieriyan
Nicole Anderson
Melanie Blanton
Markella Patitsas
Priyenka Khatiwada
Rachael Purvis
Samantha Hack
Bianca Almada
Katelyn Kulaga
Jesse Metres
Martinez Mariela
Hannah Howard
Amber Braun
SP 2015
SP 2015
SP 2015
AY 2015
SP 2015
FA 2015
SP 2015
SP 2015
SUM 2014
SP 2015
SP 2015
FA 2015
FA 2014
AY 2014
SU 2015
SU 2015
FA 2013
SU 2014
SU 2015
SU 2015
SP 2015
SP 2015
SP 2015
SP 2015
SP 2015
FA 2014
Brandeis University
Bates College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Depaul University
George Washington University
George Washington University
Lawrence University
Queen’s University
Southwestern University
Tufts University
Union College
Union College
University of Colordado/Boulder
University of Colordado/Boulder
University of Florida
University of North Carolina CH
University of North Carolina CH
University of North Carolina CH
University of North Carolina CH
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern California
University of Southern California
University of La Verne
Washington & Lee University
Wellesley College
*please note: this is based on availability, is up to 2 weeks duration, and there are a few months
that are off limits
12|
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
n the evening of June 23rd, CYA’s
own Nadia Meliniotis (Director
of Student Affairs) and summer students
Katharine (Katie) Rice (University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill) and Allison
Sheehan (University of Michigan), participated in Running Into the Future. This
6 km night run was organized by the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural
Center (SNFCC) as part of the four-day
event titled “Light Up The Night at the
Stavros Niarchos Park,” to celebrate the
opening of the new Cultural Center and
Park Complex at Faliron.
Although participation was booked
in advance, Nadia worked her magic and
the two students were granted last minute
participation permits. At sunset the runners
set off from the Panathenaic Stadium, in
front of CYA, and finished at the Stavros
Niarchos Park at Faliron where a feast was
waiting for them. Way to go, Nadia, Katie,
and Allison!
CYA APARTMENTS AVAILABLE
CYA alumni and friends planning to
visit Athens, please keep in mind that
CYA may have apartments available
for rent. CYA student apartments are
conveniently located in the Pangrati
neighborhood of Athens and provide
a less expensive option than hotel
accommodations. For availability
and rates please send a request to
programs@dikemes.edu.gr.
TRIBUTE TO CYA
AD M IN IS TRATION MEMB ERS
S U M M ER VI S I T O R S
Wendy White (’67-‘68) was in Athens
at the end of July and did not miss the
opportunity to visit CYA and chat with old
and new friends. Wendy, always abreast
of the latest developments, did not miss
the opportunity to discuss – what else?
Greece’s current economic situation. Below,
with Alexis Phylactopoulos and Marinetta
Papahimona at the CYA cafeteria.
s
sDaniel Parmet (fall ’06),
who modestly describes himself as a chess expert
(not a Master), very happily found himself
in Greece to participate in a 10 day chess
tournament taking place on the island of
Ikaria this past July. CYA did not miss the
opportunity to snap a photo of Daniel here
with CYA’s own Jennifer Holland (Spring
‘99).
Professor Fred Ahl and his family visited Greece this past June and made sure to
connect with long-time friend Steve Diamant, who, in turn, made sure that they also
visited today’s CYA. Staff members were delighted to see them and took the opportunity
to catch up and enjoy a few carefree moments with Fred, his beautiful wife, Nikola and
their adorable children, Martin and John. Below with Alexis Phylactopoulos Nadia
Meliniotis, Steve Diamant and Vasso Matrakouka.
s
s
George Mesthos (Spring ‘08), CYA’s
first ever Social Media Coordinator, a journalist, and today a Foreign Service Officer
stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, found time in his schedule
to come by CYA and catch up with old
friends. Here, with President Phylactopoulos, chatting about his career and current
events in Greece.
T
his past July, on the occasion of the
annual reception of CYA trustees, faculty
and administration, special tribute was paid
to Carol Carr, Registrar (above), on the
occasion of her retirement. In her 15 years
with CYA, Carol has been essential to the
success of CYA’s academic program: a wizard in class scheduling, she always made
sure that classes were offered at times that
would optimize students’ options; her deep
knowledge of each course’s content helped
her guide students to select those most
appropriate for their academic targets; and
her judicious study of scholarship applications helped optimize the financial benefit
for each applicant. Carol’s artistic inclinations and experience in graphic art have
also been invaluable to CYA in the form of
posters, advertisements, even the design of
CYA’s website and printed material. Carol
Carr will remain with CYA in the capacity
of Art Director, continuing to advise on,
and create, CYA’s marketing and advertising material both electronic and printed.
During the reception two more staff
members were honored for their invaluable
service and dedication.
(Above) Maria Malliou, Financial Officer
(20 years), and (below) Michalis Alexandridis, Housing Superintendent (15 years).
FAL L 2015
|13
FALL 2015 CLASS NOTES
Please Note: Fall students are denoted
with an “A”, spring students with a “B”, full
year with an “AB”, and summer with an “S”.
starting fall of 2015. She spent 2 weeks this
summer in Bangladesh, the home country
of her college roommate.
2010 - 2011
If you are interested in keeping up with
the latest at CYA and in serving as the
connecting hub between your classmates,
learn more about the Class Agent role by
contacting Erica Huffman at: alumni@
cyathens.org.
Mary Neville (A) graduated in May from
Brandeis University with an MA in Ancient
Greek and Roman Studies.
Anna Maria Charalambous (S) spent
much of this summer in the Mediterranean, with two weeks at her house in Mesa
Geitonia, Limassol on Cyprus, and a month
at her boyfriend’s house in Akamatra, Mesargeia on the Greek Island of Ikaria.
2014 - 2015
Class Agent: FALL: Colleen Nugent
nugentc@union.edu
SPRING: Mariela Martinez
mariela.martinez@laverne.edu
Hannah Howard (B) spent the summer
abroad! She was taking part in cultural
anthropology ethnographic field schools
in Belize, during the month of June, and in
Malta, during the month of August.
2013 - 2014
Class Agent: FALL: Oliver Ayer oayer@villanova.edu
FALL: Camen Piho
camen_piho@brown.edu
SPRING: Chris Lasek
chrislasek@gmail.com
Alex Anderl (A) visited Greece in May to
present a paper at the Messolonghi Byron
Society 10th Annual Student Conference.
He misses Greece and it does not compare
to Chicago!!
Joshua Bryer (B) will continue working in
West Philadelphia throughout this coming
year at a local health clinic where he will be
teaching a tech course. Fellow CYA classmate, Camen Piho (B), who is attending
University of Pennsylvania for a post-bac in
Classics, now lives with Joshua.
Kirsten Jaqua (B) was accepted into a four
week intensive language program in Hamburg, Germany for the month of August.
Cydnee Somera (A) writes: “As a reward
for my service as a CYA Ambassador, I will
be spending time in Athens during the
month of October. I look forward to
conquering the Athens Marathon for a
second time!”
2012 - 2013
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
Glenna Gray (S) was accepted into the
Rutgers Masters Program in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies (CHAPS),
14|
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
Elise Poppen (B) attended CYA in the
spring of 2013 and returned to excavate
at Voula in January 2014. She graduated
from the University of Minnesota in the
spring of 2014 and is currently a student
at Trinity College Dublin, where she has
been working towards her MPhil degree in
Classics. She will be done with the program
in August. Elise recently received a travel
bursary from the Irish Institute of Hellenic
Studies for her 2014-2015 research project
regarding the Panhellenic games in the
Roman period.
Mia Rawleigh (A) received a fellowship
position at Anatolia College for the 20152016 school year! She is so honored to
have the opportunity to live and work in
Greece for 10 months. She wrote “I cherish
my time at CYA in the fall of 2012 so much,
and because it was such an amazing and
transformative time for me I was incredibly
anxious to try to find another opportunity
to return for an extended period of time.
The fellows arrive in August and are there
until the following June. I look forward
to visiting Athens and to stopping in to
see you. Thank you so much for your help
during the application process!”
2011- 2012
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
Andrea Ruiz-Lopez (B) writes “I am currently teaching Second Grade as a special
education teacher in NYC, but I am hoping
to begin doing archaeological field work
next summer so that I can stay connected
to the Ancient Greek world!”
Lacey Polvi (B) received an MA in Management from the School of Business and
Management at Azusa Pacific University
in Southern California and most recently worked as a coach in the university’s
Writing Center. She now has an internship
in organizational development at Kaiser
Permanente.
Morgan Williams (B) is currently an
M.B.A. Candidate at University of North
Florida in her hometown of Jacksonville,
Florida. She got engaged in February 2015
and is planning a wedding celebration for
October 2016!
Class Agent: Hannah Ringheim hlringheim@gmail.com
2009 - 2010
Class Agents: FALL: Will Eberle will.eberle13@gmail.com
SPRING: Andreas Glimenakis glimenakis.andreas@gmail.com
SPRING: Ethan Baron
ethanrbaron@gmail.com
Baylee Smith (A) writes “After graduation,
I attended graduate school at Wake Forest
University School of Divinity and achieved
a Master of Divinity degree; I focused much
of my coursework on how faith leaders
engage and collaborate with the private,
public, and nonprofit sectors for the good
of their communities. Greensboro, NC is
now home for me and I work at a local
nonprofit.”
2008 - 2009
Class Agent: Ariel Perkins
ariel.perkins@gmail.com
Andrew Henderson (A) writes “Last year
I wrote and co-produced a Sci-Fi called,
Flashes, starring Tom Sizemore, which is set
to premiere on the SyFy Network this year.”
2007 - 2008
Class Agents: FALL: Amy Hoeg amy.hoeg@gmail.com
SPRING: Aubrie Boersen aubrie.boersen@gmail.com
SPRING: Terence O’Neill terence.oneill23@gmail.com
Brian Martens (B) writes: “I had the
opportunity to excavate at the Agora in
Athens this past March and June. I stayed
in the CYA apartments and enjoyed
reconnecting with the President and other
members of staff. I received a fellowship
from the AIA to teach this academic year at
the American School of Classical Studies in
Athens.”
2006 - 2007
Class Agent: Hibben Silvo
hsilvo@gmail.com
2005 - 2006
Class Agents: FALL: Erin Meyers erin12m@gmail.com
SPRING: Bernadette Bolan bernsb@gmail.com
Daniel Leon Ruiz (A) recently accepted
a position as Assistant Professor of Classics
at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
1999- 2000
2004 - 2005
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
Class Agent: Lucianna Ravasio lucianna.ravasio@gmail.com
1998 - 1999
Eleanor (Thomas) Hadji (A) attended
CYA in the fall of 2004, and earned her BA
and BS from Brown University. On June
8, 2013, she married CYA alum, Andreas
Hadji (2002 AB), in Auburn, Ala. in a United Methodist/Greek Orthodox ceremony.
They now live in New Haven, Connecticut,
where Eleanor attends Yale University and
will complete her MD/PhD in neurobiology
in June 2016. Andreas works in real estate
development.
2003 - 2004
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
2002 - 2003
Class Agent: Adam Fletcher
adamfletcher@yahoo.com
Andreas Hadji (AB) - see 2004-05
2001 - 2002
Class Agent: Jennifer Kreft Potts
jennypotts6907@gmail.com
2000 - 2001
Class Agent: Anthony Platis
agplatis@yahoo.com
Anthony Platis (S) writes: “Upon graduating from the University of Arizona in
2002, I received my Master’s in Medical
Pharmacology and I currently work for
a pharmaceutical company that creates
cardiac and acute care medicine. Not
stemming too far away from my roots, I
have been teaching competitive Greek folk
dancing for the past 12 years. Having been
back to Greece multiple times since 2000, I
have done field research in different islands
of Greece, trying to preserve the customs
and traditions to teach youth and adults in
the greater Chicago area. We are currently
doing dances from the island of Serifos and
Kalymnos! I currently reside in Arlington
Heights, IL with my wife of 6 years, Elpida,
our daughter Georgia and another bun in
the oven on the way!”
Daphne Pezaris Maramaldi (AB)
bumped into a fellow College Year in Athens alum, Ruthie Knapp (’63), at Sprague
Elementary School in Wellesley, MA in
February! Ruthie was there to read her
book, Who Stole Mona Lisa, to students.
Class Agent: Ryan Tipps
ryan.tipps@d3sports.com
1997 - 1998
Class Agents: FALL: Maro Sevastopoulos maro_rose@yahoo.com
SPRING: Jocelyn D. Martindale
jmartindale@pressganey.com
1996 - 1997
Class Agent: Steve Maselunas
smaselunas@charter.net
1995 - 1996
Class Agent: Vasilios Roussos
vasilios@gmail.com
1994 - 1995
Class Agent: Laura Ament Taylor
tidndutch@bigpond.com
1993 - 1994
Class Agent: Susannah Snowden-Smith
susannah_snowden@hotmail.com
1992 - 1993
Class Agent: Joel Green joel@joelgreenstudios.com
Keyne Cheshire
(A), Professor of
Classics at Davidson
College, published a
new book, Murder at
Jagged Rock, a translation of Sophocles’
Women of Trachis for
a setting in a mythic
Wild West (The Work
Works, 2015). He also just captured another
swarm of bees for his apiary. Thank you,
Aristaeus!”
1991 - 1992
Class Agent: Kelly McCutcheon Adams
kamcc71@yahoo.com
1990 - 1991
Class Agent: Daphne Pezaris Maramaldi dmaramal@fas.harvard.edu
1989 - 1990
Class Agent: Steve Gratwick
steve.gratwick@gmail.com
Eleni Tsakopoulos
(B) Kounalakis
recently published a
political memoir of
her time as an American ambassador in
Budapest from 2010
to 2013, Madam
Ambassador: Three
Years of Diplomacy,
Dinner Parties, and
Democracy in Budapest (The New Press,
2015). A cross between a foreign policy
memoir and an inspiring personal family
story - her immigrant Greek father went
from agricultural day laborer to land
developer and major Democratic party
activist - “Madam Ambassador” draws back
the curtain on what it is like to represent
the U.S. government abroad as well as how
American embassies around the world
function. (from The Book Depository)
1988 - 1989
Class Agent: Joe Garnjobst
joseph.garnjobst@hillsdale.edu
1987 - 1988
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
1986 - 1987
Class Agent: Tina Sorokie
tsorokie@yahoo.com
1985 - 1986
Class Agent: Margaret Miller
mmillerod@yahoo.com
1984 - 1985
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
Modern Greek class of 2000 in Piso Livadi, Paros
THE O W L • FAL L 2015
|15
1983 - 1984
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
1982 - 1983
Class Agent: Zoe Sakellaropoulo
zoesak@gmail.com
1981 - 1982
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
Plateia Stadiou was challenging for our
vehicle - not to mention rain like we never
experienced in ’77. I did, however, locate
the apartment that Karen, Susan, Martha,
Betty, Kathy, and I shared that year. It was
lovely to be able to explore sites that had
previously been undergoing restoration or
excavation even though other sites were
now closed for the same reasons.”
Class Agents: Kimberle Gray
kimberle_g@yahoo.com
Scott Dreher
scott@dreherlawfirm.com
1977 - 1978
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
1976 - 1977
Class Agent: Helen Tangires
htangires@verizon.net
Anne Steinhilper Scott (AB) writes: “My
husband, Marc, and I spent our spring
break of 2015 in Greece, specifically Crete,
Athens, and the Peloponnesus, from Baku,
Azerbaijan where we are currently teaching. While on the Athenian Acropolis we
stumbled across the current CYA students
taking the Monuments course with Dr.
Tassos Tanoulas on the north side of the
Erechtheum; the students we spoke with
seemed amazed that anyone my age could
have ever done what they are doing now but they were quite pleasant about it! Two
days later we again saw a group of CYA
students with Professor Steven Diamant in
the Acropolis Museum examining the Calf
Bearer. Both of these events brought back
wonderful memories of my time with CYA.
Although we tried to stop by the
Academic Center, the construction on
1 6|
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
Class Agent: J. Mara DelliPriscoli
jmara@travelearning.com
1968 - 1969
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
Class Agent: Valentine Talland
vtalland@mac.com
Robert Harned (AB)
writes: “The print
edition of my book,
Sally Phipps: Silent
Film Star, has finally
been published. The
e-book version is
still available from
Amazon for $9.99, but
now, the print version
is available, also from
Amazon for $14.99. Here is a picture of the
front cover.”
1969 - 1970
1967 - 1968
1979 - 1980
Class Agent: Anastasia Sarantos
anastasiastaskin@aol.com
Class Agent: Steven Schultz
sgsmozart@gmail.com
Class Agents: Hetty Jardine
hetty.jardine@gmail.com
Kelly (Knapp) Cullins
tkcullins@gmail.com
1980 - 1981
1978 - 1979
1970 - 1971
1975 - 1976
Class Agent: Susan
Sampliner
ssampliner@aol.
com
Thomas Gallant
(AB), the Nicholas
Family Endowed
Chair, Professor of
Modern Greek History at the University
of California, San Diego, and a member
of CYA’s Board of Advisors, published his
latest book, The Edinburgh History of the
Greeks, 1768 to 1913: The Long Nineteenth
Century (Edinburgh University Press, 2015)
in February. The book traces the rich social,
cultural, economic and political history of
the Greeks during that period, adopting a
broader geographical scope that encompasses the Greeks of Russia and of the
Ottoman Empire. This interdisciplinary
approach bridges history, anthropology and
archaeology and emphasizes social history,
including an in depth discussion of Greek
rural society and economy. (from The Book
Depository)
1974 - 1975
Class Agent: Rick Neville
rickneville@comcast.net
1973 - 1974
Class Agent: Ann Marie Taliercio
herelocal150@igc.org
1972 - 1973
Class Agent: Don Lippincott
dflipp3@gmail.com
1971 - 1972
Class Agent: Mary Clark
maryec5276@gmail.com
Rebecca Nordstrom (AB) writes: “I will
be retiring soon from Hampshire College
(Amherst, MA) where I’ve taught Dance
and Movement Studies for many years.
I’m looking forward to having more time
for travel, perhaps even back to Greece! I
would welcome hearing from others from
our class. Email: rnordstrom@hampshire.
edu”
1966 - 1967
Class Agent: Susan Blake
ssblake68@gmail.com
Lee (Johnson) Stockwell (AB) writes: “I
had a wonderful time in Athens and was
able to catch up with Karen Mavrides ’67.
We went back to our old neighborhood for
a walk and dinner at L’Abreuvoir, a favorite
hangout for steak tartare when we felt
flush, and I was delighted that the daughter
of the owner is now running it. We had
great conversations about CYA and Mrs.
Phyl, both a lovely woman and a force to be
reckoned with.
I was struck both by the growth of the
city and the current economic situation.
It didn’t seem to matter where you went,
the empty store fronts were everywhere.
I can only hope this starts to get resolved
over the summer. On the brighter side,
the museums were all spectacular and the
food was fabulous. We went to Delphi for
a day and the flea markets have become
boutique shops and restaurants. I just hope
I won’t have to wait another 45 years before
returning.”
1965 - 1966
Class Agent: Jennie Tucker
jtucker@oregonwireless.net
1964 - 1965
Class Agent: Peter Allen
pallen@ric.edu
1963 - 1964
Now Accepting Class Agent Volunteers!
1962 - 1963
Class Agent: Ruthie Knapp (AB)
see 1990-91
I N M EM ORI A M
It is with great sorrow that CYA announces the
death of Carin Christensen (’70-‘71) Green,
(above, R) who passed away July 2, 2015.
Her vivaciousness touched the lives of her
fellow students. Here are some remembrances,
submitted by two of her CYA classmates.
Carin Christensen Green came into our
lives Sept, 1970. She was my roommate
at 42 Xenocratous and I knew from the
beginning I was way outclassed. She was
tall, blond, attractive, and a real classicist,
who not only knew Latin, but was taking
Ancient Greek. I was terrified with Modern
Greek, and sounded out the street names
like a kindergartener, while she took her
map and fearlessly walked Athens. She
was clever, funny with a wicked sense of
humor and incredible confidence. It was
during the first week in our apartment that
in the middle of the night and probably still
asleep, she bolted up in bed with her face
in front of a poster of Delphi and yelled
“Where am I?” and I yelled back,“You’re
in Athens with me, Maureen your roommate”. She calmly laid back down and we
were best friends ever since. She would
often surprise me, as when we had all gone
to a wonderful party that CYA sponsored
after we finished our midterms. That night
having much too much to drink, I awoke
in the bathroom, with my head still in the
toilet to Carin standing in the doorway. She
looked even taller than normal. She calmly
said “Are you going to sleep in here all
night”? Slightly embarrassed I managed to
get to my bed, where she quietly (hearing
hiccups) placed a waste basket by my bed
next to my head. She was always doing
those delightful and kindly acts. She was
an outstanding serious student, and yet I’d
hear her laughing loudly while she read
Gerry Durrell (I never got to thank her for
introducing me to him) stories about his
crazy family. She loved books in all forms,
and was always available to answer some
question or give sound advice.
Before I knew I had hepatitis I was
in our big bathtub…..I didn’t have the
strength to get out of it, and called out….
Carin came rushing in, put her arms
around me, pulled me out, dried me off,
and put me to bed. The next day the Doctor came and diagnosed the disease. Carin
took over….as she rushed across the street
to buy me coke, or toasted toast and covered it in orange marmalade that Mrs. Kitto
had kindly brought. Connie Nordheilm
remembers sitting there while I could
barely move, and Carin would have a menu
of things I could eat, and she would read it
to me, hoping for a nod of acceptance. She
never left the apartment without asking if I
needed anything. At the end of the school
year, we both had decided that we couldn’t
possibly leave Greece, so went around and
found an apartment that we planned to
return to. We both left on a boat to Italy
as we wanted to see the sites in Sicily and
Italy. After a few pinches I knew traveling
with this blond might be a big mistake. In
an effort to protect ourselves, we carefully
examined all the couchettes on the Italian
train for Sicily (the room contained a fairly
harmless father and son)…..Once underway we all calmed down, until two Italian
punks tried to settle into our couchette.
The Italian father and son tried to keep
them out…one punk pulled a knife, and
before I knew it Carin let out this earth
shattering scream!!!! I looked over at her,
and she was still screaming when our eyes
met……I knew what she wanted….I joined
in…..and we screamed our lungs out until
they stopped the train. She was hysterical
with laughter when the conductor arrived.
She was always up for an adventure. We
toured the sites, with men driving off the
road to try and touch her…..finally we
decided we had enough and moved on to
Rome, never knowing that it was setting
her on the path to Roman Religion, and her
wonderful book on Diana.
We continued our friendship after CYA
as she would come to San Francisco to visit
her family and we’d get together…sometimes all three roommates (Carin, myself
and Maria Esquivel) from “42” would stay in
a hotel and talk and laugh the night away.
She came to my house several times, and
the most recent time she and her husband
(our professor at CYA) Peter Green came to
give a talk to our little community on Alex-
ander the Great. Peter and Carin wowed
everyone in town, and it was such great fun
to have them here.
She was planning on coming to our
reunion about two years ago, but sadly she
had to cancel for surgery.
I still cannot believe she has left us. Way
too young, way too early, and I miss her
dreadfully. When you check the “Rate your
professor” at the University of Iowa where
she taught, and was head of the Classics
Department….she gets almost a perfect
score for helpfulness with EVERY student.
Her easiness scale was MUCH lower. That
was Carin, very loving, helpful, caring…..
but she did not suffer fools.
Maureen McCloud Carpenter class of 70-71
Maureen and Sharon Bishop are trying to find
a date and a place where we can get together
and remember Carin in the way she would
enjoy. Lots of wine and laughs. Please feel free
to contact Maureen @ palenquemo@yahoo.
com, or Sharon @Sharon.bishop@bishopconsulting.org if you would like to attend.
I was a fellow Calif. student with Carin at
CYA. She and I spent our Christmas break
together in Austria:
Carin was a serious music student and
wanted to experience great music, especially opera, in Vienna. That sounded delightful
to me, so I was game. Snow was the first issue, since we California girls were not from
cold country—we went shopping in the
Plaka area and found the most outrageous
fox fur hats, stitched pieces of pelts together in tufts and clumps, warm and unique.
We proceeded to take the train north,
through what was then Communist
Yugaslovia—all we could see was a white
expanse from our window and when the
train came to a dead halt in the middle of
the night and stayed there for hours, those
fur hats kept us warm but froze to the
windows as we tried to sleep!
True to her word, Carin made sure we
saw opera—in fact we saw 7 or 8, not to
mention the Vienna Boys’ Choir, chamber performances, etc. We STOOD (as
students had been doing for decades in
Vienna) through 4 HOURS of Wagner, The
VIalkyrie, I think. I’m sure we saw more
than one Wagner, but spent the money to
get seats! The highlight of Opera Season in
Vienna, was and still is Johann Strauss’ Die
Fledermaus, on New Year’s Eve. Carin was
determined to get tickets, so there she was
at 4 am in line, in the snow! I relieved her
about 8 so she could get breakfast and back
she came! We got our seats, and joined
Viennese Society for the evening, another
amazing memory of the Greek Adventure!
Joan Marxmiller Crider (’70-71)
|17
COOKING WITH MENI
SPANAKOPITA
Ingredients
1 packet (approx 1 pound) “Horiatiko” (village) phyllo pastry (the thicker
kind).
2 pounds of fresh spinach, well washed, strained, and chopped
6 or 7 fresh green onions (scallions) chopped in small pieces
½ cup of dill (well chopped)
3 eggs, beaten
1 pound of Feta cheese, grated or mashed into small pieces
½ teaspoon of black pepper
Olive oil
In a large bowl, combine spinach, eggs, Feta cheese, pepper, green onions
and dill.
Use the olive oil to lightly oil a rectangular baking dish. Place half of the
phyllo sheets on the bottom of the pan, one at a time, brushing each sheet of
phyllo lightly with olive oil. The sheets will drape over the sides of the pan.
Add the spinach mixture, then fold in the overhanging sections of the phyllo
sheets. Top with the remaining phyllo sheets, remembering to oil each sheet
separately. Tuck in any overhanging top phyllo sheets to seal in the mixture.
Brush the top phyllo with olive oil as well.
Score the spanakopita on top in order to delineate serving pieces (do not cut
all the way through the bottom).
Bake the spanakopita for approx 45 minutes at 350º F in pre-heated oven.
Enjoy as an appetizer or anytime snack. It is excellent when still warm, but
equally delicious when cold.
MAKE A DONATION
Donate now – Help CYA continue to
provide a unique and extraordinary
study abroad experience
Online
Visit www.cyathens.org/give_now
By Mail
Make a gift by check – mail a check or
money order to:
College Year in Athens,
PO Box 390890, Cambridge, MA
02139
By wire transfer*
Bank of America, ABA 026009593
100 Federal Street Boston, MA 02109
Acct: 0000501-69735
(College Year in Athens, Inc.)
*Please notify
development@cyathens.org
when you have made the transfer.
Three more ways to make a taxdeductible contribution to CYA
1. Gifts of stock
By transferring appreciated stock to
College Year in Athens, you may be
eligible for a tax deduction equal to
full fair market value of the stock,
avoiding the capital gains tax on the
stock’s increased value. In order for
your gift to be acknowledged, it is
important to notify CYA of the type
and amount of stock you will be giving. You may do this either personally
or through your agent or broker.
2. Matching Gifts
Your employer may match your
charitable donations, multiplying the
impact of your gift. To learn if your
organization participates, please contact your human resources office.
3. Named scholarships
What better way to support a
deserving CYA student than through
a named scholarship! You can honor
a special person and give the incredible experience of College Year in
Athens to an academically qualified
student who would not otherwise be
able to attend.
CYA T-SHIRTS
In response to numerous requests
from alumni, the CYA T-shirt is now
available for purchase in North
America. For information and the
order form, visit www.cyathens.org.
18|
FA L L 2 0 1 5 • T H E O WL
NEWS AND COMMENTS
T O REQUES T A TR A N S C R IPT
Date
To request a transcript, download the
order form available on the CYA website
in order to print it, complete it and mail
it to our North American Office along
with a check to cover the charges.
Include any labels or transcript request
forms that need to be attached to the transcript(s) with your check. Transcripts are
$5.00 each; checks should be made out
to College Year in Athens. Because
transcripts are issued in Athens and
then mailed to Cambridge, please allow
3 weeks from the time of request for a
transcript to reach its final destination.
For express delivery, which cuts the processing time down to approximately one
week, add $35.00 to the amount due.
To expedite the process, you may
notify CYA by e-mail (info@cyathens.org)
that you are sending your signed request
and payment. In your e-mail, please
include your full name and date of
birth, whether or not you are paying for
expedited delivery, and the number of
transcripts requested.Transcripts will not
be mailed out until payment has been
received. Please note: Transcript requests
will not be processed for students with
“HOLDS” on their accounts.
Fold here
C O L L E G E Y E A R I N AT H E N S
PO. BOX 390890
CAMBRIDGE, MA 02139-0010
NON-PROFIT
C O L L E G E Y E A R I N AT H E N S
ORGANIZATION
PO. Box 390890
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Cambridge, MA 02139-0010
BURLINGTON, VT
PERMIT NO. 399
change services requested
Fold here
COLLEGE YEAR IN ATHENS ALUMNI/AE NEWS & INFORMATION
NAME CYA CLASS*
ADDRESS (if different from label)
TEL Day Evening
E-MAIL ADDRESS
If the above is a temporary address, please indicate how long you expect it to be valid (until?
permanent address or telephone through which you can be found:
), and give below a more
*Our system is to list fall semester and spring semester students as belonging to the class of the full academic year (e.g., people who
attended in fall 1990 and spring 1991 both belong to the class of ’91). Summer students are listed by the year they attended.
UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE & MAJOR(s)
ADDITIONAL EDUCATION
CURRENT OCCUPATION
WORK ADDRESS
o I WOULD LIKE CYA TO CONTACT ME ABOUT A POSSIBLE MAJOR GIFT.