THE CHARIOTEER

In 1970 Bill Ashworth, a free lance sports writer and member of our In 1975 the Greek community  saw the need for a news bulletin.   He, along  with Steven Phillips, began a monthly  called the Charioteer. The purpose was the same as previous publications to keep our community informed. At first, it was all written in English, but Dimitri Papaleonardos contributed articles handwritten in Greek. Readers were encouraged to submit articles and pictures.  Mr. Ashworth kept up the work for two years. Then in 1972 it was taken over by Kosmas (Mikis) and Diana Synadinos, who continued with the publication for almost six years.

 With the generous gift of an  electric typewriter with both English and Greek elements, the editors were then able to turn out a better looking bi-lingual monthly. The format was expanded somewhat with more advertisers and more articles. From the beginning one of the regular contributors was Mr. Nick Vatsures, who wrote articles on religion and history. Organizational news, stories on newcomers, political commentary, vital statistics, articles on safety, health, and Orthodoxy, and ads for upcoming events were the primary contents. The Charioteer had from 12 to 24 pages each issue; and while not slick and professional looking, it has proven to be an invaluable source of community history for this album. The Charioteer is still mailed free each month to every family in the Greek-American community. The co-editors at this time are Litsa Kozyris and Willian Ashworth. Previous editors have been Holly Papaleonardos, Dimitri Papaleonardos, Linda Dickson, Karen Lee, and Ann Marie Gidus-Mecera.

Standing L to R.: Holly Papaleonardos Betty Sawich, Marylyn Altemus, Nick Vatsures
Seated, L. to R.: Litsa Kozyris, Bill Ashworth.

PROJECT PAIDEIA  

In 1975 the Greek community pledged to raise money to develop the Modern Greek Studies Program at The Ohio State  University. The agreement was that if our  community could come up with $10,000 per  year for four years, then the University would  take on the support of the department. The  agreement was met very successfully, and the program thrives today. Classes began in the fall of 1976. The first professor hired to teach in the department was Valerie Caires. She was followed by Dr. Vassili Lambropoulos to1981. In the fall  of 1987 a second professor, Dr. Gregory Jusdanis, was added. He teaches the basic sequence of language courses. This allows Dr. Lambropoulos to concentrate on advanced  courses in literature and to develop graduate level programs for advanced students. Besides Queens College in New York City, Ohio State is the only other University offering a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Modern Greek Studies. Next year OSU will sponsor its first graduate level colloquium, where graduate   students will come together to present their  on modern Greek.

PROJECT PAIDEIA MEMBERS

Seated, L. to R.: Professor Vassilis Lambropoulos, Dr. Tom Leontis, Dimitris Papaleonardos.

Middle row, L. to R.: Tom Chase, Professor Gregory Jusdanis, Nick Soulas, Artemis Leontis, Litsa Kozyris, Anna Leontis, Kosmas Synadinos.

Back row, L. to R. James Jelett, Professor Phaedon Kozyris, Becky Regas, Nick Alexander.

Note: This photo shows the people assembled for the photo. The PROJECT PAIDEIA members at inception included only: Professor Phaedon Kozyris, Professor Paul Taiganides, Stelios Giannopoulos, Nick Alexander, and Kosmas Synadinos