The absorption taken by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis successful his code connected the juncture of Athens College’s 100th day was thing but expected. In what was, successful immoderate case, a notably little address, Mitsotakis chose to minimize the constituent of nostalgia arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, contempt being himself an alumnus of the College.
Perhaps astonishing those expecting a accepted greeting, and focusing alternatively connected the captious request to modernize the institution, the Prime Minister spoke astir Artificial Intelligence, merit-based allocation of scholarships, inclusion, and adjacent intelligence health.
He avoided the much oregon little customary praise of individuals and traditions of the school, opting alternatively to bash thing wholly antithetic for the standards of a celebratory event: to workout criticism—indeed a alternatively crisp one, for those capable to tune into the essence of the code helium delivered connected the evening of Monday, May 4, successful the auditorium of Athens College.
And the essence of his remarks was, down the criticism, a heavy interest—one mightiness adjacent accidental concern—for the aboriginal of this peculiar acquisition institution, arsenic expressed by a erstwhile pupil who intelligibly cares astir his school.
Drawing connected a notation from 1929 by Eleftherios Venizelos connected innovation arsenic a springboard for processing his ain positions, the Prime Minister outlined the large challenges the College faces successful the 21st period crossed 4 axes, arsenic follows:
- Artificial Intelligence. “It is inconceivable for the College not to beryllium astatine the forefront of this discussion,” Mitsotakis stressed. He added emphatically that “public schools are already engaging successful partnerships with large AI companies. I would truthful genuinely like, successful this treatment astir however we integrate Artificial Intelligence into education, for the College to beryllium genuinely connected the beforehand line.”
- Composition of the pupil body. “Let’s not kid ourselves; I deliberation that successful caller decades the College has, to immoderate extent, mislaid the societal diverseness it surely had successful our time, and I judge the clip has travel to regain it,” Mitsotakis underlined, reminding the medication of the value of including students from little privileged socio-economic backgrounds, based solely connected their willingness to larn and their performance.
- The College’s fiscal capacity. In transportation with the above, Mitsotakis referred to the instauration of an endowment that would let immoderate pupil susceptible of gaining admittance to the College done meritocratic exams—but whose household cannot spend the tuition—to person those fees covered by the school’s endowment arsenic a scholarship. In fact, the Prime Minister utilized the English word “need-blind admission.”
On this occasion, helium besides made a subtle yet wide remark aimed astatine hesitant donors of the College, noting characteristically that “I americium definite determination are galore among america who would person the willingness—I situation accidental besides the obligation—to contribute, not lone to idiosyncratic projects—and galore person been done and I privation to convey each the school’s donors—but besides to a corporate College goal, which tin beryllium nary different than a precise beardown endowment.”
- Inclusion. For Mitsotakis, Athens College indispensable admit diversity, amusement respect, and not shy distant from large issues and challenges specified arsenic intelligence health. “The accent connected the intelligence wellness of our children,” the Prime Minister observed, “with each the tools we tin supply them truthful that they go well-rounded and blessed individuals and originative citizens, I judge indispensable beryllium a precedence for the schoolhouse for the adjacent 100 years—or for the adjacent 10 years, due to the fact that we won’t beryllium present astatine the 200th day of the College, but the College surely volition be.”
Concluding his speech, Kyriakos Mitsotakis somewhat cryptically wished for Athens College “to proceed connected this innovative way and, supra all, not to beryllium acrophobic to change. As times change, truthful indispensable things that subordinate to the governance of the school. And done a tone of steadfast cooperation, I judge solutions tin beryllium found. You cognize precise good that immoderate does not change, declines. And we bash not privation the College to decline.”
The humanities travel of Athens College
Kyriakos Mitsotakis graduated successful the people of 1986, portion virtually dozens of erstwhile students of Athens College person distinguished themselves successful politics, served arsenic ministers, oregon adjacent arsenic premier ministers. Consequently, a portion of Greek history—political and beyond—one mightiness accidental adjacent the country’s nationalist trajectory, is nourished by and intimately connected to Athens College. It is 1 of the oldest and, objectively, the astir renowned and emblematic backstage schools successful Greece, marking 100 years since its founding successful 2025.
Dozens of personalities
The past of Greece, from the interwar play to the contiguous day, arsenic good arsenic the chiseled past of Athens College, are composed of hundreds of smaller idiosyncratic stories—the lives and careers of individuals who excelled—or astatine the precise slightest stood out—shaped Greek nine and near a definite humanities imprint crossed assorted fields of nationalist life, from authorities and concern to subject and the arts.
Among its alumni are figures specified arsenic Spyros Latsis, a banker and businessman of planetary stature, arsenic good arsenic Dimitris Papaioannou, 1 of the astir originative and groundbreaking creator minds Greece has ever produced.
Also included are MIT prof and visionary of the integer satellite Michalis Dertouzos, Pavlos Alivisatos, prof of Nanotechnology astatine the University of California, Berkeley, world Costas Synolakis, who besides served arsenic President of the College, designer Alexandros Samaras, the wide known and prolific historiographer Thanos Veremis, arsenic good arsenic the left-wing intelligence and erstwhile SYRIZA minister, prof Aristides Baltas.
Shipowners Giorgos Prokopiou and Giorgos Economou, arsenic good arsenic actors Kostas Arzoglou and Konstantinos Markoulakis. The caput of the Motor Oil Group and multi-time rally champion Giannis Vardinogiannis, on with respective different members of his family. Journalist Alexis Papachelas and Savvas Theodoridis of Olympiacos.
Athens College: Mitsotakis’ “warning bells” for the aboriginal and the eventful past of the elite school
Niki Kerameus
The antheral of utmost escapade feats Nikos Todoulos and conductor Nikos Michalakakis. Giorgos Kaminis. Katerina Gagaki, the property typical of Archbishop Ieronymos, Haris Konidaris, Christos Chomenidis, among many, galore others. In immoderate case, the crippled of name-dropping is by explanation mislaid successful the shadiness of Athens College, since it is simply a fixed that immoderate effort astatine a implicit inventory of VIP alumni, occasional students, etc., volition ever permission astir out.
Nevertheless, adjacent for Athens College itself, which systematically and proudly showcases its distinguished alumni arsenic an unbeatable vantage implicit competing backstage schools of the informal “Greek Ivy League,” immoderate students volition ever origin a grade of awkwardness.
Athens College: Mitsotakis’ “warning bells” for the aboriginal and the eventful past of the elite school
Olga Kefalogianni, Stavros Papastavrou
The achromatic sheep and the PASOK threat
Miltiadis Evert, for instance, was 1 of the hard cases, uncomfortable for the communicative of excellence associated with the College. He did travel from a almighty and well-known family, but helium himself—of blessed memory—was proverbially a mediocre student, particularly successful theoretical/literary subjects.
However, erstwhile overmuch aboriginal successful beingness helium returned successful glory to the College to springiness a lecture arsenic a curate and aboriginal person of New Democracy, helium had each close to stock with the assembled students of his aged schoolhouse the thought that “being a bully pupil is not needfully a one-way thoroughfare to occurrence successful life.
For example, I ever had apical marks successful Mathematics, but not bully grades successful the rest. Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, etc., I ne'er liked. In the entranceway exams for the Evelpidon subject academy, the schoolhouse I wanted to get into, I failed successful the essay. Nevertheless, arsenic you tin see, I didn’t bash excessively severely successful the end.”
Athens College: Mitsotakis’ “warning bells” for the aboriginal and the eventful past of the elite school
Zoi Rapti
Similarly, Andreas Papandreou, whose humor was already boiling from his teenage years, managed successful 1936 to beryllium expelled from Athens College.
The crushed for his expulsion was the fiery Marxist articles helium signed successful “Xekinima,” an improvised governmental critique work that Andreas enactment retired unneurotic with immoderate arsenic hot-headed and restless classmates. And arsenic a benignant of household tradition, George Papandreou was besides forced to interrupt his studies astatine Athens College—abruptly and violently.
Having witnessed firsthand the apprehension of Andreas connected the orders of the coup leaders of April 21, 1967, the until-then quiescent and introverted George A. Papandreou, astatine conscionable 15 years old, began flirting with what was strictly forbidden nether the emerging dictatorship: resistance.
Athens College: Mitsotakis’ “warning bells” for the aboriginal and the eventful past of the elite school
Niki Kerameus, Dimitris Kairidis, Domna Michailidou
So erstwhile this shy “College kid,” grandson of erstwhile Prime Minister Georgios and lad of the “dangerous for the regime” Andreas Papandreou, attempted to overgarment connected the outer partition of Arsakeio, not acold from the College, the anti-dictatorship slogan “Democracy volition prevail,” helium excessively was arrested.
It is said that helium was beaten by constabulary earlier being returned home. In immoderate case, his mother, Margarita Papandreou, rushed to smuggle him retired to the United States. However, the Papandreou family’s narration with Athens College includes different episodes arsenic well, intelligibly beyond the attendance of different members of the dynasty, specified arsenic the writer and existent PASOK MEP Nikos Papandreou, the children of G.A.P., and others.
From a wholly antithetic perspective, during the archetypal signifier of PASOK’s governance of the country, successful the play 1983–1984, the almighty and established Athens College came precise adjacent to bankruptcy and disappearance.
The schoolhouse went done the astir superior fiscal situation successful its history, which astatine archetypal glimpse was owed to the accumulation of deficits and debts, but astatine its halfway the hardship was the effect of a suffocating, restrictive—openly hostile—policy toward the College by the authorities of Andreas Papandreou.
A backstage schoolhouse with this illustration was a thorn successful the broadside of the inflamed socialists and the anti-American hysteria orchestrated by PASOK astatine the time. The College’s medication was denied the close to rise tuition fees successful enactment with inflation, leaving spending cuts and fundraising arsenic the lone means to forestall the schoolhouse from suffocating financially.
Thus, an urgent donation thrust was organized, a run nether the melodramatic slogan “Save Our School – SOS.” The effect was contiguous and substantial, arsenic parents of students, on with alumni and galore affluent Greeks extracurricular the schoolhouse community, created the much-needed lifeline for Athens College.
Indicative of the determination shown by immoderate to support the schoolhouse live astatine each costs was the motion of shipowner Captain Giannis Latsis, who personally covered the College’s debts to the National Bank of Greece.
Athens College: Mitsotakis’ “warning bells” for the aboriginal and the eventful past of the elite school
Giorgos Babiniotis
Prejudices and myths
In transportation with PASOK’s run against the College, 1 could notation the rumor that, beyond fiscal pressure, definite authorities officials had embarked connected a program to undermine the school.
According to this scenario—which was ne'er substantiated oregon disproven—students’ exam papers successful the nationalist assemblage entranceway exams were deliberately sent to working-class areas, for illustration Keratsini, with top-down instructions to graders to use maximum strictness successful their evaluation. Supposedly, this explains the abrupt driblet successful the school’s occurrence rates successful the aboriginal 1980s, whereas previously—and aft PASOK’s play successful power—Athens College candidates were admitted to universities astatine overwhelming rates, mostly supra 95%.
Sheep, achromatic and otherwise
The entrenched stereotype that Athens College is inherently and rigidly a blimpish school, with a corresponding governmental orientation, producing successive generations of bourgeois citizens and politicians, was shaken by the ideological choices of Chrysanthos Lazaridis.
The aboriginal person and State MP with New Democracy successful the 2012 elections, successful the aboriginal 1970s—when the dictatorship seemed omnipotent, susceptible of detecting and crushing immoderate hint of absorption astatine birth—was a starring fig successful a precise tiny radical of alumni who identified arsenic left-wing, so acceptable for dynamic enactment aimed astatine overthrowing the colonels’ junta.
Thus, careless of his aboriginal choices, the young Lazaridis followed the solitary way of a extremist leftist rebel, playing with occurrence successful each sense, arsenic the lone erstwhile “College kid” progressive successful guiding the Polytechnic uprising of 1973 arsenic a subordinate of the EFEE coordinating committee.
But the occasional “black sheep” of the College were not lone those who strayed from the ascendant existent of governmental conservatism—even though Athens College itself has consistently, systematically, and officially distanced itself from immoderate hint of ideological guidance of its students successful immoderate direction. The College declares itself wholly and persistently apolitical.
Nevertheless, astatine the level of teenage subculture, galore of its students person made earnest efforts to debunk the story that they are “soft,” “spoiled affluent kids” compared to students of different backstage oregon nationalist schools.
Hence, sometime astir 1986–1987, idiosyncratic had the thought of bringing a flock of sheep onto the grounds of the College successful Psychiko for grazing—although the hidden symbolism of this “installation” was ne'er afloat decoded.
Watch the lawsuit astatine Athens College:
The Century of Athens College
In October 1925, Athens College began with precise fewer students—just 30 successful total, hardly much than the mean size of a azygous people today. Today, the pupil assemblage exceeds 2,000, portion the teaching unit numbers much than 250 educators crossed assorted specialties.
The school’s facilities see the historical gathering analyzable on with newer additions and expansions successful Psychiko, much modern campuses successful Kantza, arsenic good arsenic a kindergarten.
What is present a immense instauration started successful 1925 arsenic the innovative “Athens College,” bearing the clarifying subtitle “Hellenic-American School.” It was a recently founded and idealistic acquisition initiative, firmly oriented toward liberalism and a bourgeois imaginativeness of humanistic education.
However, the value of the endeavor could not beryllium underestimated oregon ignored by nine astatine the time, fixed that its founders and benefactors were figures of tremendous economical and intelligence stature: Emmanouil Benakis, 1 of the top nationalist benefactors successful Greek history, and Stefanos Delta, hubby of Benakis’s daughter, the writer Penelope Delta.
Delta was a distinguished banker and intellectual, besides known for extended philanthropic activity. Alongside them was a radical of American philhellenes who were profoundly committed to creating a hub for a broad Greek-American education—a exemplary school, fundamentally a existent “college” successful Athens.
In the words of Stefanos Delta, the founders envisioned “a schoolhouse that would nutrient citizens with patriotism and humanity, honorable characters, physically and intellectually equipped for the struggles of life… supra each with the volition to larn much and the method to get cognition from some beingness and study.”
Class, Image, and Identity
Anyone who has attended an Athens College graduation ceremonial cannot assistance but consciousness awe. The procession of students lasts for hours, seemingly endless. The aforesaid goes for the distinctions awarded to graduates crossed a wide scope of world fields, arsenic good arsenic successful rhetoric, the arts, athletics, and more.
For astir a century—with the objection of bonzer periods specified arsenic 1940–45, erstwhile the schoolhouse was turned into a subject infirmary and aboriginal occupied by German forces—the medication has proudly announced the achievements of its apical students: their admittance to prestigious universities successful Greece and abroad, and their precocious rankings successful entranceway exams.
At these ceremonies, teenage graduates eagerly “try on” their caller identities, wearing ceremonial attire—designer dresses, precocious heels, suits, and ties. Thousands of guests attend, galore arriving astatine the accepted Psychiko field with idiosyncratic information details.
Some are erstwhile students who present clasp salient positions successful authorities oregon business; others are determination to witnesser a large milestone successful their children’s lives—their graduation from precocious school. Often, some roles overlap, arsenic Athens College maintains a beardown interior network, encouraging lifelong affiliation done enrollment advantages, tuition discounts, and more.
Complete detachment from the schoolhouse is rare. Those who walk done its halls go portion of a chiseled micro-society, with its ain codes of recognition, communication, and adjacent solidarity—a benignant of brotherhood, with some its strengths and its drawbacks.
Elite Status and Criticism
Athens College has ever been defined, successful part, by its reputation. As a backstage instauration with precocious tuition fees (around €12,000–13,000 per pupil annually), it remains financially inaccessible to astir Greeks. Admission is selective, with aggregate “filters” successful place.
There is, however, a assistance system—the oldest successful Greece—which allows galore underprivileged but susceptible students to be based connected world and societal criteria.
Still, the schoolhouse is often criticized arsenic an elite instauration that reinforces people structures—a “showcase school” for the aristocracy, oregon adjacent a closed, snobbish nine that reproduces the country’s ruling class.
Yet this mentation is overly simplistic. While Athens College undeniably emphasizes excellence and maintains a grade of elitism, it is besides shaped by interior contradictions and complexities—like immoderate surviving community.
Perhaps 1 of the astir insightful descriptions comes from movie manager Grigoris Rentis, a postgraduate of 2002:
“Athens College is simply a spot you travel to admit implicit clip because, successful a subtle and peculiar way, it manages—beyond education—to instill civilization successful you.”
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