Plzen With Flying Colors...

Commentary on and Reflections from the SVU World Congress in Plzen

Although there were some initial skeptics who had concerns whether our Plzen co-organizers, who had no previous experience with such a mammoth undertaking, could swing it, I am delighted to report that our Plzen Congress was a smashing success, thanks to the persevering efforts and boundless enthusiasm of Dean Ivo Budil and his associates Mgr. Ivona Skanderova and Bc. Marta Varejkova. It was the army of his young people -- there must have been some fifty of them - all of whom attend the University of West Bohemia, who made the difference. They seemed to be everywhere, handsome looking with pleasant smiles and helping hand, many of whom spoke flawless English. Most of them sat behind a whole array of computers, both at the registration desk and at the press room. They were not only computer literate, many of them were real pros. Some of these young people were in evidence already upon our arrival at the Prague Airport carrying highly visible signs "SVU World Congress" for easy identification. They were there on Saturday and Sunday, guiding the Congress participants to buses which took them to Plzen. One of the innovations of this Congress was the daily Congress Bulletin, consisting of 6-10 pages, prepared in the SVU Press Room, under the guidance of Mgr. Premysl Rosulek and his able student staff. The responsibility for the registration rested on the shoulders of Ing. Jan Cerny and his student helpers. The students were also in plain evidence in every academic session tending the audiovisual equipment and making sure that everything moved smoothly. And finally, several young people tended the sales of books, not to speak of the countless of invisible mundane activities they were involved with during the organizational phases of the congress. The greatest credit for the organizational aspects goes to Pavel Scholze a Mgr. Sabina Ruzickova.

The SVU World Congress was held under the auspices of President Vaclav Havel in close cooperation with the University of West Bohemia and the City of Plzen. The official opening was scheduled for Monday, June 24, however some of the activities already started on Sunday with the opening of the registration desk and the press center on Jungmannova 3. At 10:30 AM, the West Bohemian University Choir, "Nova ceska pisen" presented a colorful program of the Renaissance Music, including Monteverdi, Lasso, and Gesualdo, arias from Italian operas (Verdi, Puccini), and illustrations of the 20th century music, i.e., Lukas, Laburda and Ropek as well as folk songs.

The Congress was ceremoniously opened on Monday, June 24 in the presence of distinguished guests and representatives of the Czech and Slovak political, cultural, and scientific life in the famed Pilsen Theater of Josef Kajetan Tyl. With the sounds of trumpets came the academic procession of the university hierarchy, dressed in academic gowns, followed by dignitaries who were then seated on the platform. National anthems of four countries where the SVU has the largest membership, i.e., Czech Republic, Slovakia, the US and Canada followed. During the playing of the Slovak anthem, many a participant began to sing along, which brought an occasional tear among those present. The official welcome came from Zdenek Vostracky, Chancellor of the University of West Bohemia, and Mayor Lord of the City of Plzen, Jiri Sneberger.

Then SVU President Miloslav Rechcigl opened the Congress, followed by official greetings and short speeches by Canadian Ambassador Margaret Huber, the Slovak Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ladislav V. Ballek, Ambassador of the US to the Czech Republic Craig R. Stapleton, President of the Senate of the Czech Parliament Petr Pithart, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the US Martin Palous, and President of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Helena Illnerova. The impressive program was concluded with the key address by Senator Josef Jarab, the past Chancellor of the Palacky and Central European Universities. All speakers stressed the importance of education and higher learning and the strategic role of Plzen culturally as well as economically.

After a festive lunch there was a plenary session dedicated to "Tribute to America"with the participation of the Ambassadors from the US and the Czech Republic and the spokesman for Slovakia. The second part of the plenary session was devoted to a special symposium, "Czech and Slovak Americans on Behalf of their Old Homeland" with the participation of the presidents and representatives of the major Czech and Czechoslovak ethnic organizations in the US and Canada that have played a major role in the establishment of Czechoslovakia and in the subsequent liberalization movements. They included Czechoslovak National Council, American Sokol, Alliance of Czech Catholics, Council of Free Czechoslovakia, American Fund for Czechoslovak Refugees, Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, Czech and Slovak Association of Canada and American Friends of Czech Republic.

The first day was concluded with the gala performance by the renown Plzen Philharmonic Orchestra, in the auditorium of the historic Mestanska Beseda, Jiri Malat conducting. The program included works of Antonin Dvorak: Violin Concerto in A minor and the New World Symphony in E minor. Featured was a soloist from the US, Janica Martin.

Over the following four days, in representative historical halls in the center of Plzen, numerous lectures, discussion panels and symposia took place in a number of concurrent sessions. On the Czech end, the task of organizing the panels was given to the Faculty of Human Studies of the University of West Bohemia, the Medical Faculty of Charles University in Pilsen, the West Czech Museum, American Center in Plzen, Beer Brewing Museum, the Museum of Skoda History, and the West Czech Gallery, while the US panels were coordinated by Mila Rechcigl. Altogether there were some eighty panels, half conducted in English and half in Czech or Slovak. It would be virtually impossible to describe the content of each session. Suffice to say, that practically every field of human endeavor was covered, from the arts and humanities to social sciences, natural sciences and technology. Most sessions were well attended and all papers I heard were of high quality. The uniformly high quality of papers was noted by everybody I talked to. All the sessions I attended were assisted by young people, usually running the projectors or other audiovisual equipment. They all knew what they were doing and the high tech was visible everywhere to the envy of many of our colleagues from the US.

Academic panels ended on Friday noon. In the afternoon the concluding plenary session was scheduled. It started with the presentation of the SVU Elias Human Tolerance Awards to Father Anton Srholec, the winner of the 2001 Award, and Prof. Tomas Halik, the winner of the 2002 Award. The presentations were followed by the addresses of each of the laureates. The second part of the plenary session was devoted to a panel discussion of the relations between the Czech Republic and the Czechs abroad, with the participation of Senator Jarab, Senator Jaroslava Moserova, Mojmir Povolny, Radomir Luza, Benjamin Kuras and Petr Bisek. The plenary session was concluded with a brief talk by Dean Budil and with a presentation of an honorary award by Chancellor Vostracky to SVU President in recognition of his efforts toward "the development of academic, cultural and social relations between the Czech Republic and Czech communities abroad." Immediately after the plenary session there was a meeting of the SVU General Assembly.

The culmination of the SVU Congress was the Society's gala banquet on Friday night at the restaurant, "Na spilce", on the premises of the historic Pilsner Urquell brewery, courtesy of the City of Plzen. Visitors were treated to scrumptious food, and the famous Pilsner Urguell beer, while the band played popular tunes. The occasion was used for presentation of SVU Presidential Citations by SVU President and of SVU Praha Awards by the Chapter President.

During the duration of the Congress the attendees had an opportunity to choose from a highly interesting and varied cultural program, which, in addition to the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, included a piano recital by virtuoso Professor Radoslav Kvapil, the Jirasky concert, featuring F. Liszt, B. Smetana, F. Chopin, L. Janacek, and C. Debussy, a concert of K. Friesl and D. Tolas, based on the compositions of Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, and Zdenek Fibich, the Stivin's concert, a piano concert of Petr and Martina Karlicek of the music compositions by Franz Schubert, Antonin Dvorak, Bela Bartok, and Ferenc Liszt, a piano and clarinet concert by Marie Bobkova and Budimir Zvolanek, Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen"under the baton of Jiri Strunc, and the theatrical production of J. Weinberger's play "Kroky po krach cili kdyz se jde, vsechno chce", not to speak of a number of classical Czech films. Interested people could also sign up for various events in connection with the "Year of Josef Skupa and Jiri Trnka", and view a variety of interesting exhibits in the city galleries.

Saturday was reserved for bus excursions through the Plzen environs with an opportunity to see the historic castles and chateaus, or the renowned spa cities in the western part of the Czech Republic.

Taken as a whole, this was a remarkable event. In addition to the superb academic and cultural program, there were a number of social occasions where the participants could meet their old friends or make new acquaintances that frequently lead to lasting friendships. The hospitality and the friendship of the Plzen people was clearly visible at every step and one truly felt like being at home and being wanted. As I mentioned in several of my interviews with the reporters, this will be a hard act to follow. The Plzen organizers, who passed the acid test with flying colors, deserve our sincere thanks and gratitude. They were also successful in attracting a large number of sponsors which made it possible to provide most cultural and social events free of charge. I ascribe their success to the young age and initiative of the organizers, all of whom, starting with Ivo Budil, were below forty years of age.

Mila Rechcigl SVU President

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