Minutes of the SVU 2012 General Assembly Meeting
August 25, 2012: SVU General Assembly took place at the Bohemian National Hall in New York City, August 25, 2012. The meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm. by President Karel Raska. As Secretary-General, Zdenek David took Minutes.
1.President Raska delivered a report on the activities of the outgoing Executive Board during the period 2006-2012.
He noted the success of the three Congresses and three Conferences during this period, which attracted wide participation, particularly from the Czech Republic, and to considerable extent also from Slovakia. He stressed the participation of young scholars and scientists, which was especially notable and welcome. Likewise, he thanked the governments of the Czech Republic and of Slovakia for the support of SVU activities during this time, particularly financial support, which helped to defray the expenses of the Congresses and Conferences.
Turning to publications, President Raska noted that SVU continued the society’s tradition dating back to the time of the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia, when SVU – next to the Christian Academy in Rome – was the most active publisher of Czech academic literature in the free world. For the period 2006-2012 under review, he noted the sponsorship of books by Vera Borkovec, Francis Raska, and Miloslav Rechcigl, as well as of the collections of papers from Congresses and Conferences in Bethlehem, Rozumberok, Tabor, New York City, and the forthcoming one from Zilina. He stressed the considerable improvement in the academic standard of SVU’s flagship publication, the journal Kosmas, and once more expressed the Executive Board’s gratitude to Clinton Machan for his devoted and skilled editorial work.
In thanking his colleagues on the Executive Board, President Raska special mention of several by name: Zdenek David for the preparation of programs of Congresses and Conference, as well as for editing the abstracts and published papers from these meetings; Eugene Martin for many administrative functions, especially taking care of SVU finances, including membership dues; George Tesar for organizing several panels, which contributed to areas rounding out meeting programs, especially in the fields of marketing; and Vlado Simko for helping to organize the 2011Conference in New York City.
In conclusion, President Raska referred to the satisfactory state of SVU finance, while expressing regret about the decline of SVU membership. Turning to the SVU chapters, he noted the revival of those in New York City, Los Angeles, and Prague, the establishment of the new chapter in Ceske Budejovice, and the flourishing state of the Munich chapter. He also noted the previous evidence of tensions between certain chapters and the center in the USA, and expressed satisfaction about the improved relations.
2.Transfer of Leadership
The chairing of the General Assembly was assumed by Blanka Kudejova, chair of the Nomination Commission, who announced the result of the elections with all the nominated candidates elected. The counting of the ballots was done under the supervision of Jitka Ilnerova.
Petr Hausner, the newly elected SVU President then took over the chair, and delivered an programmatic address outlining plans for the future of the organization. Following his presentation, several members of the newly elected Executive Board, namely, Hugh Agnew, Igor Lukes, Louis Reith, Michael Seng, as well as the new editor of Kosmas, Francis Raska, spoke about their backgrounds and special contributions that they intended to make to the SVU and its activities.
Finally, Blanka Kudejova read the report of the Auditors of the Accounts (Jiri Eichler, Eva Marikova Leeds, and Blanka Kudej), who proposed to the General Assembly to approve a discharge to the Retiring Executive Board.
3. The meeting was adjourned by President Hausner at 5 p.m.
Minuted by Zdenek David