American College of Greece Honors New President

Greetings by U.S. Embassy Spokesperson Carol Kalin
Inauguration of Dr. David G. Horner,
7th President of the American College of Greece
March 7, 2009

On behalf of Ambassador Speckhard and the entire U.S. Embassy community, I am honored to be here tonight to congratulate Dr. David Horner on his inauguration as President of the American College of Greece.

At this time of change, the motto of the American College of Greece -- “non ministrari sed ministrare” -- you are not here to be served but to serve -- is especially resonant, recalling as it does the famous lines spoken by President Kennedy at his inauguration in 1961, when this school was incorporated in the United States and embarked on a decade and more of expansion here in Greece:

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

A new American President, Barack Obama, who was born that same year, 1961, recently echoed this call to service in his first address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, emphasizing education along with energy and health-care as his top priorities for investment in America’s -- and the world’s -- future.

“The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach,” President Obama said.  “They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.”

I am certain that the 33,000 alumni of the American College of Greece -- including the 14,000 who have graduated from Deree College, named for Vassilis Derehanis, a successful Greek-American businessman from Chicago, born in the Peloponnese -- will agree with this statement.

For our part, we at the U.S. Embassy very much look forward to continuing the vibrant and productive partnership we have with this fine institution, under the leadership of Dr. David Horner as its new President and Dr. John Bailey as Chancellor, in sustaining the deep, long-lasting educational and cultural ties that bind the United States and Greece.

Thank you.