Next month, AEGEE-Europe will publish its book about 25 years of Summer Universities. Chief editor is Hara Kogkou, who was SUCT project manager for two years herself. The Golden Times spoke with the AEGEE-Peiraias member about her prestigious publication.
Golden Times: Hara, what will the content of the book be?
Hara Kogkou: The booklet is a tribute to the Summer University Project itself. It will have a little bit of everything, for example simple things for us but unknown for the externals, like what is the Summer University, how it started, what are the benefits for the young people that participate, institutions, culture and more. There are also going to be some statistic records as they show in numbers how many people have participated, how many SUs have been organised and many other things!
Golden Times: When will it be published?
Hara: Next month you will have it. You will see everything then.
Golden Times: You just published the total number of SUs full of enthusiasm: 1803 SUs in total from 1985 to 2012. So you are learning every day something new?
Hara: Indeed, every day is almost a new day for some facts! We have to dig a lot in order to understand in depth the project and learn more. And as we dig, we find out interesting facts, like this one, that 1803 Summer Universities have been organised, 2004 was the year with the highest amount of them: 96 Summer Universities! Another interesting one is that the total number of applications – considering the few years we don’t have records of – should be close to 100.000!
Golden Times: You have a big team of helpers. How many people are involved?
Hara: There are quite many people, but any help is needed and appreciated! Especially the help from the oldies, as they have materials from the past that we cannot have in the current SU website. I have really appreciated their help as every time we sent an e-mail regarding the booklet to the mailing lists, I received some e-mails from our oldies! I find this really great as we keep the spirit and it is obvious that are still a lot of people caring about the SU Project and our association! And of course, people that are currently active in AEGEE, the CD and other are helping, too. Around 20 people have contributed in one way or another!
Golden Times: What finding did surprise you most/did you find most remarkable?
Hara: That the first Summer University Coordination Team, as it is today, was in 1996!
