At the Annual General Meeting of the Macquarie Greek Studies Foundation, which was held at the
AHEPA Hall on Sunday, June 22 from 4:30pm, several decisions were made concerning the upgrading of the Foundation’s Constitution, the acceptance of financial reports, the offer of a course from the University of Ioannina, and the election of the new Board of Directors.
It is worth noting that the establishment of the Macquarie Greek Studies Foundation goes back to the mid-1980s and the initiative of the late Vasilis Georgiou. Thanks to Vasilis, the Macquarie University Greek Association (MUGA) was formed, which was the catalyst in creating the Foundation in 1986.
Vasilis, John Theodoridis, Connie Hilloudakis and Theophilus Premetis were the founding members of the Foundation. Thanks to their efforts within the broader Greek Australian community and the Greek Government, $375,000 was raised.
The Macquarie Greek Studies Foundation reached an initial agreement with the University that if Greek was to discontinue, the principal sum of $375,000 would be refunded to the Foundation. In the end, after negotiations, the University refunded to Macquarie Greek Studies Foundation approximately $500,000 and kept enough funds for teaching out the existing courses until the end of 2026.
In the Foundation’s account, there is now in excess of $500,000. It should be noted that over the period, additional amounts in excess of $1,000,000 were raised and donated to the course.
So, from 2027 onwards there will be no more Modern Greek language courses offered at Macquarie University.
It should be noted that since the Modern Greek language program is going to be discontinued in 2027, the ex officio presence of the co-ordinator of the Modern Greek program to the Board of Directors has been cancelled. At present the 14 members of the Board, elected for the following term, are tabled below.
The Foundation has thanked the outgoing Directors; John Kallimanis, Theodora Koutzoumis, Zoe Re, Mary Vartzoumas and Dr Patricia Koromvokis.
The creation of a CEO position has been decided upon and put into the Constitution. The simplification of membership has been considered and accepted into the updated Constitution of the Foundation.
Last but not least, the Foundation accepted an offer made by the University of Ioannina to give university students in Australia the opportunity to attend a course in the Greek language and culture. This is basically going to be a Winter School course in Greece. As to the details of the course, the President of the Foundation has been authorised to finalise the details.
The Foundation, moreover, has pledged to assist with the costs of the course with the amount of €1,500 per student. The course to be offered, hopefully this winter in Greece, is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Any queries can be directed to the President, Theophilus Premetis on 0419 718 159.
The 14 elected Members of the Board are:
- Paris Paranomos (current president of MUGA)
- Dean Gongolidis (ex-president of MUGA, life member)
- Dean Ohtaras (ex-president of MUGA, life member)
- Sam Giovas (ex-president of MUGA, life member)
- Leonidas Bombotas (ex-president of MUGA, life member)
- Panagiota Georgiou (representing the Amyntas III Association)
- Anastasia Karakominakis (representing the Pan-Macedonian Association)
- Bill Skandalakis (representing AHEPA NSW Inc.)
- Peter Michalos (representing HELMOS Philanthropic Association)
- Apostolos Tsanis (Foundation member)
- Ted Dorotheos Tzovaras (Foundation member)
- Connie Hilloudakis (Founding MUGA life member)
- John Theodoridis (Founding MUGA life member)
- Theophilus Premetis (Founding MUGA life member)
