ECHOES FROM WASHINGTON SVU WORLD CONGRESS

Dear Mila:
Many, many thanks for an absolutely wonderful congress! You are to be ongratulated. I felt privileged to be a part of such an excellent gathering of such interesting people. Now I hope that you have a moment's rest.
Wishing you all the best,
Betty McGinnis, Annapolis, MD

~~~

Dear Mila:
Congratulations! The 20th Wold Congress was truly outstanding by all measures--in thougtfull planning and preparation, in minute organization, in the number of attractive and important international participants that it brought together, and in the myriads of designs of scholarly outcomes and results that it promulgated. We all are grateful to you and to your carefully selected, dedicated team for your selfless, dedicated and visionary labour. Well done!
Jan Triska, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

~~~

Milo,
The SVU congress was a notable collective contribution to the visibility and image of the Czech lands and Slovakia in America, but it also enriched me personally with its interdisciplinary breadth and its impressive gathering of participants. All this brought to mind the program for Czech scholarship that Thomas Masaryk published in his Athenaeum (vol. 2, no. 9) in 1885, a program which Zdenek Nejedly called a "Magna Carta of Masaryk's efforts"(T.G. Masaryk, vol. 4, p. 101). More than a century later SVU fulfills much of what Masaryk called for in his program.
David Z. Chroust, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

~~~

Dear Mila,
I thoroughly enjoyed the Congress. The program was broadly conceived, reflecting the vatried intersts of SVU members, and the papers were for the most part of high quality. It will be a tough choice to select what to publish. I was particularly impressed by the presence of many young scholars, and SVU leaders and Congress organizers should be congratulated on their successful effort to recruit more younger scholars for SVU, both directly from the Czech and Slovak Republics, and from the ranks of second- and third-generation of Czech and Slovak expatriates. I also liked the participation at the Congress of 'outsiders' - several American scholars and volunteers who have spent some time in our home countries. Last but not least, the presence of three high-ranking Czech politicians and the wife of the Slovak amabassadors, provided additional prestige. The social program for the Congress was also excellent. The receptions at the Czech embassy and the residence of the Slovak ambassadors provided a good opening, and the film, the play, banquet and the concert were also appreciated. The trip to the University of Virginia and Monticello was especially well chosen for an academic audience, and I enjoyed it the most. All in all, it was a very successful Congress, and you and all the other organizers deserve our thanks and congratulations!
Alena Heitlinger, Trent University, Peterborough, Ont., Canada

~~~

Dear Mila:
This is to express my thanks to you and all the organizers for the superb SVU Congress 2000. I was most impressed not only by the social aspects of the Congress, like the wonderfully warm reception at the Slovak Embassy, but also by the excellent professional quality of the sessions I attended. Most important, I like the "resolution": forward looking and concentrating on the next younger generation. Thanks again!
Jan Skalny, Bradenton, FL

~~~

Hello Mila:
Congratulations on another successful World Congress.The Congress reflected the new political realities of very friendly relations between the Czech and Slovak Republics. This was evidenced by the active participation of both Ambassadors, Prof. Klaus, Dr. Pithart, Dep. Prime Minister Csaky and others. It also appeared to me that we had greater number of young people participating which in itself is a positive sign for SVU's growth and thus survival. Keep up the good work and please thank Mrs. Rechcigl for not having a nervous breakdown because of her worries about logistics. No wonder she deserved a Certificate of Appreciation.
Best,
Peter A. Rafaeli, Hon. Consul of the Czech Republic-Philadelphia, PA

~~~

Bravi!!!
You worked so incredibly hard, and it was so much worth it! It was great congress, by any measure: the abundantly rich program, with every panel vital, so many fascinating people to meet & talk to, such beautiful get together, & the unique evening programs. From all my heart, thank you for SVU 2000!!! I wish I could personally thank every one who worked for its success. Now, I trust that you allow yourselves to rest a bit on your laurels. Enjoy a beautiful summer! Looking forward to the next Congress.
Suzanna Simor, Queens College, Flushing, NY

~~~

Dear Mila:
First of all I wish to congratulate you and Eva on arranging and running an excellent meeting. For the first time since coming to these meetings, Chris and attended sessions every day from 8:30AM till 4:30PM and enjoyed every minute. Our only regret was that we were not able to attend more sessions. We occasionally split up in order to attend as many sessions as possible between the two of us. The fact that all sessions were in English was an advantage not only for those who do not speak Czech (such as Chris) but one also did not have to guess which sessions would be in which language, such as in Brno. In this connection we were immensely impressed by the command of the English language on the part of the speakers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, often handling difficult technical subjects (law, sociology, economics, etc.) expertly. We were further impressed by the high level of expertise of so many of the speakers from both sides of the Atlantic and by what our countrymen achieved abroad following their emigration. The topics were well chosen. Although my oral presentation had to do with investments, we were extremely impressed with the sessions dealing with human rights, women's issues, law and justice, inter-ethnic relations, the holocaust, Czechs and Slovaks who have made a diffrence, among others. We were also impressed by the intellectual quality of the people who represent the Czech Republic and Slovakia abroad. e.g. the Butora couple. Unfortunately when we arrived at the Czech Embassy at 7:45PM the food was gone, but at least we had the opportunity to sing "Happy Birtday" to you!
Harry Kirsch, Auburndale, MA
nbsp;nbsp;            ~~~

Dear Mila:
The Congress was successful in virtually all respects. The attendance was impressive and the quality of panels and of threir presentations (within my direct experience) was high. The social events, in which I participated, particularly the receptions at the Slovak and Czech embassies, were tastefully arranged and the refreshments plentiful. The opportunity for interaction among participants from both sides of the Atlantic was both helpful and exciting. I myself enjoyed getting to know, among others, the three members of the Czech Academy of Sciences. I sensed the prevalent feeling of satisfaction with the Congress and of an eager anticipation of the next one in 2002.
Zdenek David, Woodraw Wilson Foundation for Scholars, Washington, DC

~~~

Dear Mila:
The 20th Congress of SVU was in all aspects a great success. In sections I visited the quality of presentation was very high, the content was professionally presented and content very interesting. Social occasions were most enjoyable - it was a pleasure to meet so many old friends and make new acquaintances. I shall definitely keep in touch with some of them. For me it was a particular pleasure to meet George Novak from Atlanta and his wife - I refereed several basketball league games in Brno where he played. The organizers should be congratulated to the success of their efforts.
Petr Zuman, Clarkson University, Pottsdam, NY

~~~

Hello Mr. Rechcigl,
My wife Iveta and I attended the SVU Congress and I presented in the Next Generation Speaks Out group on Saturday afternoon. I just wanted to express my appreciation for all your hard work in putting the congress together and having everything work out so well, and the interesting programs. Iveta and I enjoyed ourselves very much and were stimulated by the interesting talks and cultural presentations. Thanks for all your hard work...I'm sure it was significant.
Jan Dolansky, CA

~~~

Dr. Rechcigl,
Thank you for the appreciative words and for the citation! I certainly appreciate the honor. I did not know about the award. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting that evening because I became ill in the afternoon. I apologize sincerely for my absence. I too was impressed by the success of the congress. I made some good contacts, and I know that the participants enjoyed meeting colleagues from other universities, both in the States and overseas. I will send a brief report on the sessions. I have followed up on the momentum of the panels by encouraging the presenters to submit their papers to Kosmas, and I will remind them in the near future. There were some very good papers presented that deserve publication. Let me also extend my thanks and congratulations to you on an excellent congress. The people who came from Britain, Prague, and around the US for the New Perspectives series were impressed with the overall program and enjoyed the various activities. I salute you and the rest of the program committee for putting together a successful congress.
Bruce Berglund, KS

~~~

Dear Mila:
The Congress was very successful I thought. I felt frustrated, however, because there were so many concurrent sessions on equally fascinating topics and I was so busy promoting our journal KOSMAS that I missed many of the presentations I wanted to attend. I am very grateful for all the encouraging words about KOSMAS 14.1 from SVU officers and members.
Clint Machann, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

~~~

Mily Milo,
jeste jednou blahopreju k organizaci kongresu a zdravim.
Benjamin Kuras, London, England

~~~

Mila,
Great conference! I really enjoyed the sessions on music (i.e. Janacek) and on ethnic strife in the area. Thank you for everything. You surely had a nice cool evening Sat. for the boat ride. It was a little too pricy for me. But I did also enjoy the film Thurs. night and the Topol play on Friday. I looked up Topol on the web, and there is a lot more about him than I expected. Thanks again,
Louis Reith, Washington, DC

~~~

Dear Mila:
I was very impressed and pleased with the program. Although there were many sections and it was difficult to attend all of the excellent presentations, one found out each selected topic would be interesting and informative. There were no dull or uninteresting presentations. What we learned that many of us share the same problems here and in Europe. The meeting of the various attendees from all parts of the world was very rewarding and we gleaned a better understanding of our Czech and Slovak brothers and sisters. This was indeed an excellent congress and achieved its many goals! My congratulations to the SVU Board and the officers and all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this a first class International Congress!
Thank you,
Daniel Hrna, TX

~~~

Dear Mila,
once again, congratulations to the SVU Congress. It was a very impressive event. Also, thank you for the SVU application - I will be sending it in shortly. I am putting together a list of my Czech/American student contacts that could be useful for SVU and I will inform you about my progress.
Vlasta Pokladnikova, CA

~~~

Dear Mr. President,
thank you once more for a wonderful experience, the congress was a big success. Thank you also for patient and fast email responses,
Martina Klicperova'-Baker, Prague

~~~

Hello Milo:
Congratulations on the great success of the 20th SVU Congress in Washington. The program covered a wide range of interests, the presentations were for the most part excellent, and the participation of so many younger people was most encouraging. If it were not for a complete unavailability of beer on--or in the vicinity of--the campus of the American University, I would declare this congress as close to perfect!

~~~

Dear Mila:
I want to thank you all for your presentations at the SVU congress in Washington last week. All of you have done an excellent job in terms of interesting contents and lively presentations of your papers. I think that we had a very successful session as the size of the audience and the number of questions asked indicated. I hope that you do not feel that your time (and expense) was wasted and that you left the congress with a good feeling. I do not know any of the young people participating at the SVU congress but I talked to some of them there and I was impressed. In my opinion the fact that you have managed to get so many young people involved is saving SVU from becoming a geriatric society and facing extinction. Further, by involving people from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, you made SVU considerably more important and more relevant than would otherwise be the case. For that we ought to be very grateful to you!
With best regards and thanks again,
Jan Kmenta, Umniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

~~~

Mily Milo,
Dekuji za dobre sestavenou zpravu ale predevsim za vrcholne zajimavy kongres. Odbornost ci zasvecenost mnoha rozmanitych panelu zpestrena zivymi debatami se zasvecenymi recniky ucinila toto setkani veku, nazoru a nametu opravdu zajimavym. Skoda, ze se clovek nemohl rozpulit ci rozctrvrtit aby se mohl zucastnit vice z tech mnoha zajimavych prednasek.
Dekuji za Tvoji obetavou, dlouhodobou a uspesnou praci a preji Ti sily a zdravi v Tvem retirementu a do dalsi cinnsti SVU.
George Novak, Hon. konsul CR v Atlante

~~~

Dear Mrs. Rechcigl,
I am writing this note to you because I think you are an "unsung heroine" in the success of the SVU Congress! You were working around the clock to help things along and I for one want to give some credit where it's due. Dakujem Vam za Vasu obetavost, cas a ohromnu pracu.
Stella S. Gabuzda, Bala Cynwyd, PA

~~~

Dear Dr. Rechcigl:
I just came from Washington, DC back to Prague and I am still full of fresh recollections from the SVU World Congress. Let me share just a few of them. I feel good about the past few days. It was my honor to speak about my recent experience at the discussion panel of younger generation, but as the congress started, I quickly realized there were other occurrences much more important for me. I visited some other academic sessions and found a real value in listening to such a diverse portfolio of research and experience and in discussions which followed. I was surprised pleasantly how the listeners got involved and created a sort of productive atmosphere where ideas are exchanged and new jointly being woven. Frankly, that is something we miss at the Czech universities where a deep silence mostly takes place at the moment listeners are asked to ask questions no matter who the speaker is and what was said. I also feel I got a confirmation at our congress of the idea saying that a real multidimensional knowledge and understanding is needed for finding solutions or ways. And we have experienced a transdiciplinary discussions indeed. For instance, Anna spoke about the critical thinking in Czech education system on Saturday, Vladimir spoke about the link between youth and experience, Victor spoke about the necessity of information technologies, I spoke briefly about the corporate citizenship, culture and cooperation within global industry and business,  Jan spoke about the environmental issues - and I need to say all of us spoke pretty much about the same. And the link goes to other panels taking place from Thursday to Saturday. The main ideas are connected even to the Business Forum from Thursday and also to the remarks and keynotes given on Wednesday's festive opening. I was happy to meet young people who had an experience from living and studying in the US. I enjoyed the receptions at the Czech and Slovak embassies and other social events like the banquet cruise on Potomac as I could talk to distinguished personalities I knew only as names before. To my delight, regardless of different generations, different experience or whatever, we had open and natural conversations like friends. I returned home enriched of new friendships, new ideas and maybe direction indicators of my future activities. Thanks to everybody who came to DC. Thanks to everybody who said something, and especially to those who talked to me. Let me express my thanks and appreciation to all the people who prepared this congress and to everybody who provided assistance.
Jiri Eichler, Prague

~~~

Vazeny pane Rechcigl,
Dekuji za vsechny informace o SVU kongresu. Jsem zde teprve prvni rok (pracuji jako molekularni genetik na NIH v Bethesde) a tak jsem byl za toto nasmerovani vdecny. Na kongresu jsem se byl podivat jeden den (nebyl jsem registrovan) a vse me na nem mile prekvapilo. Je skvele jak ceska a slovenska komunita v zahranici ma stale zajem o deni v puvodni vlasti. Kongres se Vam podarilo vyborne pripravit a ve vsech sekcich, ktere jsem mel moznost navstivit vladla tvurci atmosfera. Je skvele, ze se takto prohlubuji kontakty mezi svetem a nasi vlasti prostrednictvim vlastnich lidi - za to bych Vam chtel moc a moc podekovat, protoze Ceska republika i Slovensko bude jeste dlouhou dobu potrebovat pomoc nejruznejsiho druhu.
S uctou
Libor Kozak, NIH, Bethesda, MD
P.S. Moc se tesim az si prectu vasi knihu "Postavy nasi Ameriky", kterou mi ma privest kamarad z Cech.

~~~

Dear Mila,
I thought the Congress was a very impressive gathering. I don't know how it compared in size to previous Congresses, but I thought the presentations were very balanced and focused, and presented by a broad cross section of politicians, artists, scientists and business people which gave the meeting an extremely well-rounded perspective. I met young people just getting started in a career on the internet, politicians who played key roles in the economic transformation of the early 90's, and intellectuals who were focused primarily on their science or art. An excellent Congress, and thanks to you Mila for all your hard work. Mila, I appreciated the opportunity to chair the panel on economic transformation. Eliska Coolidge brought Petr Pithart into the meeting and he contributed much, as did your colleague Harry Kirsch and Mr. Adamec from the Slovak American Chamber of Commerce. A very good panel discussion that engaged the audience for three hours in much dialogue. I hope you are getting some much needed rest and relaxation after all your efforts. I am in Europe now but hope that we have time for lunch this Fall.
Best regards,
Ray Batla

~~~

SVU HOME PAGE, HEADLINES' ARCHIVE