THE OWL THE ALUMNI NEWSLETTER OF COLLEGE YEAR IN ATHENS Spring 2021 Spring '21 students enjoying the sunset on top of Mount Lycabettus Photo by Sophia Chaltas (Spring ’21) 5 PLATEIA STADIOU, ATHENS, GREECE BOARD OF TRUSTEES K. Chris Todd Elias Samaras Alan Shapiro (CYA '69) Chairman, Board of Trustees, College Year in Athens; Founder, President and Managing Director, Digital W.H.Collins Vickers Professor of Archaeology, The Partner, Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick, Security Technologies S.A. John Hopkins University; Whitehead Professor at PLLC the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Endy Zemenides (CYA '95) 1992-93, 2012-13 Alexis G. Phylactopoulos Executive Director, Hellenic American Leadership Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, College Year in Council (HALC) Voula Tsouna Athens; President, College Year in Athens Professor of Philosophy/Chair, UC-Santa Barbara Cornelia Mayer Herzfeld (CYA ’66) Peter Sutton Allen (CYA ’65) Recording Secretary, Board of Trustees and Special Treasurer, Board of Trustees, College Year in Athens; Consultant to the President, College Year in Athens ADVISORS EMERITI Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Rhode Island College Christos Doumas TRUSTEES EMERITI Daphne Hatsopoulos Professor of Archaeology Emeritus, University of Athens; Director, Excavations at Akrotiri, Thera Secretary, Board of Trustees, College Year in Athens; John McK. Camp II Trustee Emerita, Boston Museum of Science Director of the Agora Excavations, American School of Peter Green Classical Studies at Athens Evita Arapoglou James R. Dougherty Jr. Centennial Professor of Director of the Leventis Art Gallery at Nicosia, Cyprus Classics Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin; George A. David Adjunct Professor of Classics, University of Iowa Director, Leventis Group Michail Bletsas Martha Sharp Joukowsky Research Scientist and Director of Computing, Joan Caraganis Jakobson (CYA ‘65) MIT Media Lab Professor Emerita of Old World Archaeology and Art, Free-Lance Writer; Advisory Board, Wesleyan Writers Brown University; Director, Petra Southern Temple Conference; Trustee, New York Historical Society Andrea Hannon Brown (CYA ’73) Excavations; Former President of the Archaeological School Psychologist Edmund Keeley Institute of America Straut Professor of English Emeritus and Director of Anastassis G. David Gerald Lalonde Hellenic Studies Emeritus, Princeton University Chairman of the Board, Coca Cola HBC AG Professor Emeritus of Classics, Grinnell College Mary R. Lefkowitz Dimitri Gondicas Lily Macrakis Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities Director, Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, Special Counselor to the President of Hellenic Emerita, Wellesley College Princeton University College-Holy Cross Raphael Moissis Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos (CYA '83) Stephen G. Miller Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees, College Professor of Neuroscience, University of Chicago Professor of Classical Archaeology Emeritus, Year in Athens; Chair Emeritus, Foundation for University of California at Berkeley; Former Director, Julia Hotz (CYA ‘14) Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) - Greece; Excavations at Nemea Community Manager, Solutions Journalism Network Honorary Chairman, AB Vassilopoulos S.A. Stephen V. Tracy Yannis Ioannides Alexander Nehamas Former Director, American School of Classical Studies Max & Herta Neubauer Chair and Professor of Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the at Athens; Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University Economics, Tufts University Humanities, Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature, Princeton University Charles Kaufman Williams II George Komodikis Director Emeritus, Corinth Excavations, American Member-Advisory Board, Ipswich Investment Anne Rothenberg (CYA '66) School of Classical Studies Management Co., Inc. Trustee, The Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens Christine Kondoleon George and Margo Behrakis Chair of Greek and Thanos Veremis ACADEMIC ADVISORY ROUNDTABLE Roman Art, Department of Art of Ancient Greece and Professor of Political History Emeritus, University of Rome, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Athens; Vice Chairman, ELIAMEP Michael Arnush Chair, Department of Classics, Skidmore College Zoë Sophia Kontes (CYA ’95) Polyvios Vintiadis Associate Professor and Chair of Classics, Kenyon Director, Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Kendall Brostuen College Director of International Programs/Associate Dean of the College, Brown University Ulysses Kyriacopoulos BOARD OF ADVISORS Fmr Chairman, Hellenic Foundation of Greek Jennifer Ewald Director, Office of Study Abroad, Fairfield University Enterprises (SEV); fmr Chairman, Foundation for P. Nikiforos Diamandouros Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE); Member of Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Hal Haskell the Board of Imerys Industrial Minerals Greece S.A., Athens; Former Greek Ombudsman Professor of Classics, Southwestern University ASK Chemicals, Lamda Development Jack Davis Pam Haskell Laetitia La Follette (CYA ’75) Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology, Professor of Classics, Southwestern University Professor of History of Art & Architecture, University of Cincinnati; Former Director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst American School of Classical Studies at Athens Alexander Kitroeff Associate Professor, History Department, Haverford Nitzia Embiricos Logothetis (CYA ‘02) Thomas W. Gallant (CYA ’76) College Founder and Executive Chairwoman, Seleni Institute Nicholas Family Endowed Chair, Professor of Modern Greek History, University of California, San Diego Nicolas Prevelakis Theo Melas-Kyriazi Lecturer on Social Studies, at Harvard’s Committee Chief Financial Officer, Levitronix Technologies LLC Michael Herzfeld on Degrees in Social Studies and Assistant Director Ernest E. Monrad Research Professor of the Social Alexander Moissis of Curricular Development at the Center for Hellenic Sciences in the Department of Anthropology, Harvard Vice President, Corporate Development, Studies, Harvard University. University M&A Execution, SAP Prema Samuel Artemis Leontis Yiannis Monovoukas Associate Dean, Study Abroad and Exchange Professor of Modern Greek; Chair, Department of Founder and Manager, Helios Global Investments Programs, Sarah Lawrence College Classical Studies, University of Michigan LLC Alain Toumayan Thomas J. Miller Elaine Papoulias (CYA ’91) Professor of French, University of Notre Dame Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece; President/CEO, Executive Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for International Executive Service Corps (IESC) Margaret Wiedenhoeft European Studies, Harvard University Executive Director, Center for International Programs, Gregory Nagy Constantine P. Petropoulos Kalamazoo College Director, Center for Hellenic Studies; Francis Jones Chairman Emeritus, Petros Petropoulos A.E.B.E. Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT he Bicentennial of the Greek War of seeing the prospect of Greek annihilation, TIndependence was celebrated all over eventually changed their position in favor the world this past March with a series of of the Greeks and in 1827 destroyed the cultural, educational, and festive events. It Ottoman and Egyptian fleets in the naval was a time for remembrance and reflection battle of Navarino, thereby sealing the on the past and future of this new nation, independence of the young nation. the first nation-state after the Napoleonic At CYA, the historic occasion of the wars. beginning of the Revolution was commem- orated in March with remarkable virtual The role of the Greeks of the diaspora in lectures given by two important historians Moldavia and Wallachia, inspired by the of modern Greece, Columbia University values of American independence in 1776 professor Mark Mazower and Haverford and the French Revolution in 1789, by the College professor Alexander Kitroeff. Both ideas of the enlightenment, and the words events were co-hosted by the Consulate of diaspora Greeks like Rigas and Koraes General of Greece in Boston and offered synthesized the intellectual background of under the auspices of the Embassy of a revolution. The influence of classicism in- Greece in Washington, drawing thousands duced a philhellenic movement in Western of viewers thanks to modern technology Europe fueled by the romantic poetry of and social media.Recordings of both are Byron, Shelley, and Keats inspiring people available at Mark Mazower or Alexander to become sympathetic to the Greek cause. Kitroeff. Apart from offering to our alumni In America, the poetry of Fitz Greene and friends a deeper understanding of the Halleck and the fiery sermons of people CYA was born only 130 years after the end complexity of the Greek Revolution, both like Edward Everett and Thomas Winthrop of the Greek Revolution. Although dedi- lectures underlined the enormous influ- in Boston and Nicholas Biddle and George cated to making our students intercultur- ence that philhellenism played in the 19th Beddel in Philadelphia mobilized political ally competent, there is no doubt that the century, mobilizing public opinion in the and economic support. Quite likely the deeper impetus for CYA’s creation was the US and Europe, radically transforming the abolitionist movement played a positive study and cultivation of the art, language, political scene and tipping the scale not just role as well. and history of ancient and modern Greece, in favor of the embattled Greeks but also in in essence promoting