Sydney’s Hellenic background university students banded together in solidarity as they commemorated the 51st anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic Uprising.
The Combined Universities Greek Association (CUGA) co-hosted a commemorative event together with the University of Sydney’s Department of Modern Greek on Friday evening (15 November) held at the University of Sydney.
The event continued a now five-year old initiative by CUGA, which consists of the Sydney University Greek Society (SUGS), Macquarie University Greek Association (MUGA), UTS Hellenic Society and UNSW Hellenic Society (HellSoc), to mark the occasion.
The event opened with an address delivered by the President of the Greek Orthodox Community, Harry Danalis, who praised the students for marking the occasion of the Polytechnic Uprising.
Associate Professor Anthony Dracopoulos served as keynote speaker for the commemoration, delving deep into the historical and social context of the world and Greece around the time of the Uprising.
He praised the students for continuing to hold these events, stating that it is essential we “get students engaged with the principles that the university students fought for at the Polytechnic Uprising”.
Dr Dracopoulos stressed that freedom, one of the core values that the students in Athens referred to in the famous slogan “Ψωμί-Παιδεία-Ελευθερία” (Bread-Education-Freedom), is not claimed once and for all but is rather something we are in continuous negotiation with.
“We never reach a stage where absolute freedom is available to all people, that all people have the same equal rights or have access to equity,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“The fight to attain freedom must continue and students, who represent the part of society that will create the new world and a new future, are really the people who should take these ideas onboard and develop them for the betterment of society.”
Dr Dracopoulos highlighted the need to engage deeply with the values fought for 51 years ago and apply them in other fights relevant to Greek Australians today, citing the ongoing problems facing Greek studies at tertiary level as one example.
“We are fighting for having the right and the freedom to enhance our understanding of what is Hellenism and what is Greek at the highest level,” he said.
“There is something more in Greekness than everyday cultural practices and this is something we can study at the university, but this right is under threat.”
Former MUGA President and Secretary of the Greek-Australian Society, George Mpliokas, expressed his pleasure in seeing the students continue to mark this event five years on from their first such event.
“It is an important occasion that needs to be marked. I am very proud of all of CUGA for keeping the commemorations as a consistent figure in our cultural calendar,” Mpliokas told Neos Kosmos.
“It is not a happy occasion, it is very sombre, but it is something that deserves to be remembered and better understood and, for that, I am very proud of CUGA.”
The event, which was emceed by Angelique Aifantis and Maria Kakali (President and Secretary of SUGS respectively), featured heavy participation from students.
The Chronicle of the Uprising was read in Greek by Argyri Kallos, Modern Greek Department Liaison of SUGS.
Numerous poems were also recited during the evening by the following students: Denis Antipas (General Committee member of SUGS), Elle Tamvakolos (HellSoc President), Basil Georgas (UTS Hellenic President), Eleanna Gatsi (First Year Representative of SUGS) and Maria Kakali.
The event closed by reading out the names of the fallen from the Uprising that have been identified, which was followed by a minute’s silence in honour of them.
