A substantial bequest by a Greek Australian gentleman has been donated to Greek Studies at La Trobe University. The bequest, that is currently managed by the State Trustees, sees a yearly payment to the university for the research and benefits of students studying Greek.
Professor of Greek Studies and Head of the School of Humanities, Christopher Mackie said “this is a fantastic bequest and will be used very wisely” by the university.
The money was donated by a Greek Australian gentleman who passed away in late 2011 and left an estate worth over $1m.
“It’s a very student focused grant,” Professor Mackie tells Neos Kosmos, adding “donations from the community can often provide us with the capacity to offer us a little bit more than we currently do.
He says the university will look at creating student fellowship opportunities, for bursaries to allow students to study in Greece and vice versa, for teachers to come to Australia; additional research are just some of the ideas they are looking at.
Another is to teach a subject that is currently not being taught. With Maria Herodotou as the only Modern Greek lecturer in the program, Professor Mackie says they are “very interested developing a suite of cultural context subjects”.
“So everything from Cavafy and Kazantzakis and Modern Greeks in Contemporary Europe,” he says.
The first payment was made on the 30 April.
“Each year it’s not a huge amount of money,” says Professor Mackie, “but it’s big enough to do some really positive and some really good things.
“We are keen to focus on getting the students actively involved in this and we think it’s a way of giving a greater profile to Greek Studies at the university because students will become conscious that these bursaries exist to do specific things.”
Currently the top priority is to get down to specifics on how the funds will be spent, and used for.
“[The grant] provides the university with a lot of flexibility with what to do with the money, but with clear wishes for this to be student focused.”
