Save Greek @ La Trobe: Final call to action as determination date is looming

Less than three days left! Whether you are a parent, a student, a teacher or a school, there are still things you can do to help save the Greek Studies program at La Trobe

22 November 2020 10:49am

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The Modern Greek Teachers’ Association of Victoria appeals to the community for mobilisation around the ‘Save Greek at La Trobe’ campaign in the final round of the consultation period.

As per the announcement issued by La Trobe University on 11 November, the consultation process for the proposed termination of their Modern Greek Studies program concludes this coming Wednesday, 25 November.

The MGTAV has been at the forefront of the campaign along with more than 50 leaders of community groups who formed the committee tasked with exerting pressure to government and the tertiary institution for keeping the program alive.

La Trobe University’s is “the only Greek program available at tertiary level in Victoria”, association representatives stress in their announcement.

Community members have supported en masse the action plan, from signing the online petition and writing letters of support or making phone calls to La Trobe’s administration through to helping further spread the word via social media.

In a final call to action, the MGTAV outlines the following steps students, teachers, schools and families can make to assist with the cause:

1. Handwritten messages
All school aged students learning Greek are encouraged to submit hand-written responses to the prompt “I would like to learn Greek at University because…”. Messages can be scanned or photographed and sent through to mgta.vic@gmail.com where the MGTAV will collate all entries across Victoria for presentation to La Trobe University. Please ensure that student messages remain anonymous, as they will be presented to the University, alongside the mass media etc.

2. Video messages
All school aged students learning Greek are encouraged to create posters using phrases such as “Save Greek @ La Trobe” and video themselves explaining one or all of the following:

why Greek is important to them
why they would want to study Greek at University
what the closure of the program would mean for them

Videos should be short in length and should range from 20-60 seconds per student. As the students will be visible in the video, parent/guardian consent will be required.

Parents/Guardians can follow the steps below to provide consent for their child’s video message:
Copy and paste the template below in an email to mgta.vic@gmail.com and fill out the appropriate sections.
I _________________________ give consent for my child ____________________________ to take part in the Save Greek @ La Trobe Video Message Campaign. I understand that my child’s name will remain anonymous, but that their video will be presented to La Trobe University, the Mass Media and on Social Media in an effort to support and maintain the Modern Greek Studies program at the University.
Parents/Guardians, please make sure your child’s video is labelled with your child’s name.

3. Year 12 Students
Please promote enrolling in a Greek subject to your Year 12 students for when they begin University. Regardless of the University students study at, they are able to undertake Greek at La Trobe as part of their course. Please see the attached posted for more information. Increased enrollments in 2021 will strongly support our case.

4. Parents’ Associations
Please encourage parents’ associations of your school to also send letters of support to the appropriate team at the university. Please see attached poster for more information.

*Please note: Handwritten messages and video messages from students need to be submitted to the following link by Tuesday the 24th of November 12pm, as the consultation period closes on the 25th.
https://www.dropbox.com/request/NmamKZvcklBKpKqNM4Nq
As this is a matter of some urgency, we ask that you submit your entries as soon as possible.

Petition link for those who have not yet accessed it
https://www.change.org/p/latrobe-university-save-the-modern-greek-studies-program-from-being-discontinued-by-la-trobe-university?redirect=false
Please make sure you receive email confirmation from change.org regarding your signature on this petition. If you do not receive an email, it means your signature has not been recorded and you need to resubmit.