State of the SVU in the Year 2002

Report of SVU President Dr. Miloslav Rechcigl to SVU General Assembly Convened 29 June, 2002 in Plzen, Czech Republic

I am pleased to present my State of the SVU Report covering the two-year administrative period since the time this Executive Board assumed its office in August 2000. I will be brief because of the time constrain and besides we have regularly been reporting our activities in Zpravy SVU.

These were two extraordinary years in terms of SVU growth and development and its accomplishments. This is important symbolically since this period marks SVU entry into the new millennium.

Considering the age structure of the Society the Executive Board selected as its main objective to revitalize the Society with younger people and, with this in mind, it launched a new initiative "Accent on Youth". Success can best be judged by the constantly growing rolls of young people among our membership, as you can verify from our regular reports in our Newsletter. Many of these members are between 20 and 30 years old, all eager to participate in our activities. We have a whole group of young people here from Nebraska who, despite high travel and other expenses, managed to come to our Congress. I applaud their effort, enthusiasm and ingenuity.

Our second priority centered on information technology which is best reflected in the new SVU Website. Thanks to our Webmaster Jiri Eichler we now have a fully functional comprehensive and interactive website providing information about any aspect of SVU work past and present. We have steadily been improving it in an effort to make the site appealing and user friendly. New categories have been added including "SVU Calendar", "Czech and Slovak Issues", News from CR and SR", "Czechoslovak America" and, most recently, an "SVU Forum" has been launched. The popularity of the site is apparent from the counter which records the number of visitors. The SVU Website is not only our best calling card but it has become one of the most sought out sources of information about Czech and Slovak matters on the INTERNET.

The most important activity SVU has undertaken was our regional conference in Nebraska. As I pointed out in our Newsletter , "The Nebraska Conference was unique and truly phenomenal which cannot be expressed by a better term than a "Happening". The extensive academic program, interwoven with various cultural and social events, large attendance, perfect logistical arrangements, outpouring of friendship and enthusiasm, and ever presence of Kacenka Oslzla, barely express what took place there. A conference like that would be difficult to emulate.

One of the direct outcomes of the conference was the establishment of the new chapter in Lincoln, Nebraska which immediately took off and soon had outdone other chapters with their numerous activities.

After the successful Nebraska Conference we immediately started working on the forthcoming SVU World Congress in Plzen. It took quite a bit of effort but the fruits of hard work are plainly visible in the fantastic program and all the cultural and social activities arranged by our Plzen co-organizers. We found an excellent partner in the University of West Bohemia, which, under the leadership of Dean Ivo Budil, has done wonders. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dean Budil and his collaborators for their splendid work.

Let me now turn to our publication program which has always been considered SVU Imperative. I am pleased to see that under the new editorship of Clinton Machann our English periodical Kosmas is again published on schedule. Those of you who are subscribers must also be pleased with its content. Our goal is to make the periodical self supporting which can only be accomplished by broadening our subscription base. SVU is currently searching for a suitable candidate for a new Associate Editor for Subscriptions under whose responsibility this will fall.

With reference to our newsletter, Zpravy SVU brings regular features such as "From SVU Executive Board", "From New SVU Rolls", "Focus on Younger Generation", "SVU Calendar", etc. In addition to the hard copy we regularly post an electronic version of the Newsletter on the INTERNET.

Apart from the two periodicals, we are again publishing SVU monographs. The Taste of a Lost Homeland is the title of a bilingual anthology of Czech and Slovak exile poetry with translations into English. Twenty one poets are represented. The anthology contains close to a hundred poems, all of which have the theme of nostalgia and love for our homeland which was left behind. The anthology has been published in memory of SVU member Frank Marlow and is edited by Vera Borkovec.

The second monograph, entitled Essays on Czech Music, is based on writings of Czech musicologist Zdenka Fischman and was prepared for publication by Dagmar White and Judith Fiehler. The SVU published posthumously Dr. Fischmann's work, a long-time SVU member, as a tribute to her contributions to Czech music.

Almost completed is the newly revised SVU Biographical Directory which brings basic biographic information on SVU members. As was the case in the past it is anticipated that this publication will again become the top SVU best seller. Some of the initial delays which we experienced were caused by technical difficulties when we attempted to merge the new information with the old data.

And finally, you'll be pleased to know that the Proceedings of the Minnesota and Nebraska SVU Conferences, as well as those of the last SVU Congress in Washington, DC, are readied for publication electronically. As a part of the new SVU initiative aimed at preserving Czech and Slovak heritage abroad, I had the pleasure of conducting a comprehensive survey of the Czech and Slovak archival material in the US, after completing a similar survey on Czech Historic Sites and Monuments in the US, a year earlier. The results of the second survey were compiled in a draft report, Czechoslovak-American Archivalia, and were presented to the Czech Ministry of Affairs under whose sponsorship and financial assistance it was prepared. Both reports generated lots of interest in the US as well as in the Czech Republic and it was recommended that they be published to make the information more widely available. The surveys were carried out in cooperation and under the aegis of the National Heritage Commission comprised of major Czech organizations in the US. In connection with our efforts to preserve Czech and Slovak cultural heritage abroad, thanks to the generosity of John and Lois Fiala, the Society has established, in memory of their son, the new Stephen Fiala Cultural Heritage Award to be awarded annually.

I am pleased to report that our Society also played an active role in the organization of a special conference, "The Czech Republic and Czech Americans: Mutual Ties and Joint Partnership" held at the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC on May 18. The aim of the conference was to strengthen ties and enhance cooperation between the Czech Republic and Czech Americans.

Among other activities, SVU provided a donation towards erecting a new a statute honoring President Thomas Garrigue Masaryk in Washington, DC. I had the honor of presenting a check, in the amount of $1,000, to Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman on the occasion of his visit to the US Capital. In connection with the Masaryk Memorial which will be unveiled in September of this year, the Society has launched a new drive to raise money for a new Masaryk Youth Incentive Fund. The purpose of this fund is to support short term visits of Czech and Slovak students to America which would lead to collaborative grants with the US or Canadian institutions of higher learning. I should like to stress that all contributions for this cause, as well as other gifts to SVU, are tax deductible.

I would be amiss not to mention another SVU priority aimed at assisting in creating civil society in our old homeland. In the spring of 200l, on the initiative of Dr. Andrew Elias as the sponsor, an Annual Andrew Elias SVU Tolerance Award was established. This award includes a prize of $1,000. A while ago you all witnessed the presentation of the first two Tolerance awards.

As plainly evident from my report, the last two years were indeed very productive. During this period, SVU's visibility and image has risen to new heights and reached new horizons. Its financial base has been strengthened and a large number of new members, especially young people, were added to its rolls.

I am also pleased to report that SVU local chapters are beginning to catch the prevailing enthusiasm and are making a name for themselves. Apart from the already mentioned chapter in Lincoln, NE, special mention needs to be made of SVU Chapter in Edmonton, Canada which issued a notable CD of Czech music and SVU Chapter in Pittsburgh, PA for its role in unveiling a historic marker commemorating the site of the Pittsburgh Agreement.

In conclusion let me express my sincere appreciation to the outgoing members of our Executive Board for their support and my best wishes to the new officers.

Czech Info Center is not responsible for content of this public message. Please contact SVU with any questions.