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Reunion, 34 years after the graduation of the first students of the Department of Economics of the University of Patras, in Agrinio.
It was September 1985 when the Department of Economics with a focus on Agricultural Economics and Regional Development opened its doors for the first time in Agrinio to welcome its first students. Of the 100 students who succeeded in entering the Department in 1985, about 65 students stayed permanently in Agrinio. The first students graduated in 1989, after four years of studies, as highlighted in a statement by the students at the time.
During the holidays of May Day 2023, about 50 graduates (from the first three years of students) from all parts of Greece (Komotini, Kos, Heraklion, Corfu, Kastoria, Ioannina, Siatista, Filippiada, Patras, Pyros, Gargalians, Thessaloniki, Karditsa, Larissa, Livadia, Athens) we found ourselves in Agrinio to walk again, to visit the School (where the photo was taken), to reminisce and to hug each other.
The guidance for accommodation and the organization of the main event was undertaken by the local co-graduates Spyros Papathanasiou and Kostas Mitsostergios, choosing the family tavern (with the family atmosphere where turned it into as students back then) “Mandalo” in Giannouzi of Agrinio where, with the excellent service, the amazing cuisine and the wonderful DJ with his excellent performance in the choice of music (and dancing), they confirmed that they are worthy hosts.
The meeting was attended by Prof. Char. Kasimis, a worthy teacher and above all, a real man who did not let the memories fade away but helped to refresh them. Also involved was Mr. Greg Liakopoulos, an assistant professor at the time, who also contributed to bringing back even more details of the past.
Our laughter, shouts, screams and hugs in the cafes of the central square of Agrinio, this weekend, reminded those times of 1985-1989. Although so many years have passed, returning to the place where we spent the first 4 years of our lives away from our families, turned us immediately and ALL of us, into 18-year-olds.
The Department no longer exists-it has been abolished, and only a part of it has been transferred to Patras as the Department of Economics, while the Direction (Agricultural Economics and Regional Development) “went unheeded”. If it was wrong to establish a Department far from the central student community of the University of Patras it was even worse to stop it functioning. However, we, the Department’s graduates still exist, and this place (Agrinio) will be a part of our real life and even the most intense and the most “concentrated”, and we all together will be a part of the history of this place, Agrinio. This is the reality. And we all know that reality has a nasty habit: it always wins!
Reunion, 34 years after the graduation of the first students of the Department of Economics of the University of Patras, in Agrinio.
It was September 1985 when the Department of Economics with a focus on Agricultural Economics and Regional Development opened its doors for the first time in Agrinio to welcome its first students. Of the 100 students who succeeded in entering the Department in 1985, about 65 students stayed permanently in Agrinio. The first students graduated in 1989, after four years of studies, as highlighted in a statement by the students at the time.
During the holidays of May Day 2023, about 50 graduates (from the first three years of students) from all parts of Greece (Komotini, Kos, Heraklion, Corfu, Kastoria, Ioannina, Siatista, Filippiada, Patras, Pyros, Gargalians, Thessaloniki, Karditsa, Larissa, Livadia, Athens) we found ourselves in Agrinio to walk again, to visit the School (where the photo was taken), to reminisce and to hug each other.
The guidance for accommodation and the organization of the main event was undertaken by the local co-graduates Spyros Papathanasiou and Kostas Mitsostergios, choosing the family tavern (with the family atmosphere where turned it into as students back then) “Mandalo” in Giannouzi of Agrinio where, with the excellent service, the amazing cuisine and the wonderful DJ with his excellent performance in the choice of music (and dancing), they confirmed that they are worthy hosts.
The meeting was attended by Prof. Char. Kasimis, a worthy teacher and above all, a real man who did not let the memories fade away but helped to refresh them. Also involved was Mr. Greg Liakopoulos, an assistant professor at the time, who also contributed to bringing back even more details of the past.
Our laughter, shouts, screams and hugs in the cafes of the central square of Agrinio, this weekend, reminded those times of 1985-1989. Although so many years have passed, returning to the place where we spent the first 4 years of our lives away from our families, turned us immediately and ALL of us, into 18-year-olds.
The Department no longer exists-it has been abolished, and only a part of it has been transferred to Patras as the Department of Economics, while the Direction (Agricultural Economics and Regional Development) “went unheeded”. If it was wrong to establish a Department far from the central student community of the University of Patras it was even worse to stop it functioning. However, we, the Department’s graduates still exist, and this place (Agrinio) will be a part of our real life and even the most intense and the most “concentrated”, and we all together will be a part of the history of this place, Agrinio. This is the reality. And we all know that reality has a nasty habit: it always wins!