| SVU |
CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES |
Rechcigl Reelected SVU President to Unprecedented 6th Term
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary
SVU World Congress in Washington, DC, the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences held
it traditional annual meeting, convened in the elegant Morrela Courtroom at the American
University Washington College of Law. The meeting was called to order by SVU President
Miloslav Rechcigl at 5 PM. At the onset he appointed Dr. Jan Skalny recording secretary
and Frank Safertal and Svata Kudej verifiers of the minutes. Dr. Clinton Machann was then
asked to read the minutes from the 1999 General Assembly meeting in Minnesota which were
approved. Subsequently he appointed a Resolution Committee consisting of Blanka Kudej
(Chair) and Anton Novacky and Juraj Slavik. General Assembly then honored the recently
deceased SVU members by standing. Then followed brief reports by the representatives of
SVU Chapters abroad, including that of Dr. Alena Moravkova for the Prague Chapter and Dr.
Marie Bobkova for the Brno Chapter. The newly established SVU Chapter in Plzen, Czech
Republic was represented by its President Karel Zastera, professor at the University of
West Bohemia. Prof. V. Borkovec, jointly with Prof. I. Feierabend, then presented the
winner, Petra Ticha of Ostrava, a current student at American University, the Josef Hasek
Award, for her paper " Westernization of the Czech Republic"
The next item on the agenda was the traditional SVU President's Annual Report, "State
of the SVU in the Year 2000," presented by Mila Rechcigl. He recapitulated the
Society's activities in the last two years, including last year's successful SVU
Conference in Minnesota, held on the occasion of President Havel's visit to the US. He
described in detail the efforts of the Board to restructure the editorial and
administrative apparatus of Kosmas in order to bring about a speeder operation and
distribution of the periodical, and the launching of a new monograph program. At this
point he also introduced the new editor-in-chief Prof. Clinton Machann, thanking him
for putting out his first issue in record time - less than four months since he took over.
A number of new activities undertaken by SVU have their foundation in the new project on
the "Preservation of Czech and Slovak Heritage in America,"under SVU President's
direction, with partial support by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Notably, the
photographic SVU exhibit at the Congress on the life of Czech and Slovak communities in
the US are part of this effort, in which leading Czech-American organizations
participated. In
his remarks, Rechcigl stressed the emphasis on young people which was amply visible by the
number of speakers and other participants in this Congress. In his concluding remarks he
thanked the organizers for their "job well done" and also the media,
particularly Petr a Vera Bisek, for their help in publicizing the Congress and the SVU
aims, in general.
Then came the Treasurer's report, presented by Frank Mucha, on the status of SVU finances
which was accompanied by the Auditors' Report recommending that the Treasurer's Report be
approved Mucha's statement collaborated SVU President's conclusion that the Society
is financially sound and well, thanks
to the sound management fiscal policy of the Executive Board under Rechcigl's direction.
The Treasurer's Report was approved unanimously.
While this was going on, the Resolution Committee, which worked diligently on the Congress
resolution, completed their task and the draft resolution was presented to the General
Assembly by Juraj Slavik. It was a clear and effective statement, written in superb
prose, which was then approved by the General Assembly without changing a word.
The parting gesture of Rechcigl's Presidency was the
presentations of SVU Presidential Citations, awarded to deserving individuals "in
Recognition for Contributions to the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), the
Advancement of Czechoslovak Studies and the Furtherance of Czech and Slovak Culture
Worldwide." The recipients were: Bruce Robert Berglund (KS ), Alexej Borkovec (MD),
Vera Borkovec (MD), Petr and Vera Bisek (NY), Marie Bobkova (Brno), Pat Krizek DeVoe
(MD), Andrew Elias (VA), Jaroslav Folta (Prague), George Glos (VA), Blanka Kudej (NY),
Clinton Machann (TX), Karol Marton (Kosice), Josef A. Mestenhauser (MN), Josef Machac
(NY), Frank Mucha (NY), Anton J. Novacky (MO), Eva Rechcigl (MD), Jan Skalny (FL), Juraj
L. J. Slavik (DC), Zdenek Slouka (Prague), Alexander Tkac (Bratislava), Jan F. Triska
(CA), Jaroslava Turkova in memoriam (Prague). Vera Ulbrechtova (MD), Eva Vanek (VA),
Zdenek J. Vich (MD), Zdenka and Marina Vozarik (VA), Anna Vysoka (MN), and Dagmar Hasalova
White (VA).
Prof. Jan F. Triska, who served in the capacity of Chair of the SVU Nominating Committee,
assumed the role of presiding chair de tempore and reported on the outcome of mail
elections. The entire slate, as initially proposed, was elected by an overwhelming margin,
i.e., Mila Rechcigl, President; Anton J. Novacky, Executive Vice President; Blanka Kudej,
Vera Borkovec, George Glos, Josef Machac, Peter Rafaeli, Alexander Tkac, Dagmar
Hasalova White, and Petr Zuna, Vice Presidents; Frank Safertal, General Secretary;
and Frank Mucha, Treasurer.
In his acceptance speech, Mila Rechcigl expressed, in the name of the entire newly elected
Executive Board, his sincere appreciation to members for their confidence in electing them
to the SVU leadership roles for the next two-year period. "As for myself," he
stated, "this is not the first time I am standing in front of you at such an occasion
and I know exactly what is expected of me. Let me assure you that we will do our outmost
to continue the splendid work of our predecessors in an effort to advance Czech and Slovak
culture worldwide and foster cooperation between the men and women of science, letters and
art on both sides of the Atlantic. We cannot obviously do the work alone and ask our
members for their suggestions, initiatives and offers to help us in this important
undertaking. We are particularly seeking the help of young people with the anticipation
that they will fill our shoes and take over."
Rechcigl is certainly not a novice in the SVU affairs, having served as its President
during 1974-76 period already and again during1976-78. He is credited for putting the
Society on solid fiscal foundation and for greatly expanding its membership base and
stimulating new programs. Sixteen years later when the Society was facing uncertainty and
malaise he was brought back. In the last six years of his Presidency (1994-2000), the
Society has witnessed unexpected rebirth and remarkable growth making it the most
important organization of its kind in the world. With his unbound energy and initiatives
the Society cannot but rise to higher horizons during his next two years as President of
SVU.
SVU PRESS RELEASE of August 10, 2000
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