NEWS & PRESS RELEASES

Αwards to students in the University of Ioannina and graduation at the Vocational Training Centre

The 4th annual presentation of the Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Albanians of Greek Descent (IAOA) Awards took place at the Peristeras-Douroutsi Monastery on the University of Ioannina Campus on Wednesday, June 23, 2010, at 19:00. The goal of this specific initiative is to recognize the performance of, and provide financial support to, undergraduate and postgraduate Albanian students of Greek descent at the University of Ioannina.

During the ceremony, 11 awards were presented for the 2009–2010 academic year, with 5 going to undergraduate and 6 to postgraduate Albanian students of Greek descent from the Schools of Medicine, Philosophy, Education, and Sciences and Technologies, as well as the Departments of Economics, and Plastic Arts and Art Sciences of the University of Ioannina. Among those present were representatives of local self-government, the academic community, and members of the Foundation Board of Directors. In the 4 years the program has been in effect, a total of 39 awards have been given out.

In his opening speech, University of Ioannina Rector Ioannis Gerothanassis, stressed that this initiative “is incorporated in the framework of the general university policy ‘praising effort, awarding performance’”, adding that “honours students constitute the standard for the future of Greece. This not only stems from their academic achievements but also from the fact that they set goals and realized them”. He was followed by Dimitris Afendoulis, who after thanking the university officers on behalf of the IAOA Board of Directors, addressed the honourees pointing out that: “Today’s award and the associated check are obviously symbolic in nature; they cannot in any way quantify the suffering, the privations, the painful efforts each and every one of you has undergone all these years. We hope and wish you will soon see your dreams become reality, something that will make us all prouder and stronger so as to continue to support your efforts”. At the end of the event, the 11 students received their awards.

The Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Albanians of Greek Descent (IAOA) was established in 1991 by John S. Latsis and is part of the Latsis Foundations Network. It is wholly funded by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation (www.latsis-foundation.org).

The majority of the IAOA’s appropriations go to educational initiatives benefiting the Greek National Minority living in Albania. Through its training centre and boarding house, located since 1993 in Pogoniani, Epirus, it offers technical vocational training to young Albanians of Greek descent. During the training centre’s 17 years of operation, over 1,100 Albanians students of Greek descent passed through its doors, while on Thursday, June 24, 2010, there will be a special graduation ceremony for 42 young students with specializations in Plumbing/Heating, Auto Body Repairs, and Hairdressing.