The Olympic Flame passed through the University of Ioannina

The baton of the Olympic Torch Relay was received by the University of Ioannina on the morning of Wednesday, April 24, with University of Ioannina student Elena Papastamatopoulou, a member of the National para TAEKWONDO team, lighting the Olympic Flame.

In the courtyard of the “Karolos Papoulias” Conference Center, a crowd of people, students from the city’s schools, students, teaching and administrative staff of the Foundation participated in the celebration of the Olympic Games, in the great celebration of noble rivalry, peace and universalism .

Under a cloudless and blue sky, students from France studying at our University, through the Erasmus+ program together with Greek students, raised the flags of France and Greece and the Olympic Games, while the students three of the Department of Music Studies sang the National Anthems of the two countries and the Anthem of the Olympic Games.

Rector Professor Anna Batistatou, in her greeting, emphasized: “The path of the flame through the Campus illuminates the sixty-year spiritual journey of a higher educational institution that has its roots in the land and in the history of Epirus, but is also open to the world… Drawing inspiration from the sportsmen and women of the Olympic Games, we set the bar high for academic achievement. We are fighting for a higher education that will stand up to the great tradition of letters cultivated by Epirus. We strive to fulfill our mission for a public and inclusive education, at all levels”. Concluding her greeting, the Rector mentioned the close cooperation of the University of Ioannina with French academic institutions, through joint actions and projects.

The President of the Torch Relay Committee, Thanasis Vassiliadis, underlined in his speech the sacred ideal of the truce of the Olympic Games, the need for peace and unity among peoples by conveying the timeless messages that the Olympic flame emits. Then the French Consul Jean Luc Lavaud, as a representative of the Embassy of France and the Organizing Committee of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, referred to the values ​​of Olympism and the symbolic representation of the relations that unite the two peoples of France and Greece through of the passing of the sacred flame.

The flame was accompanied by the members of the Board of Management, Professor Konstantinos Karamanis and Professor Christos Stavrakos, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ioannis Leonardos, the President of the Department of Philosophy Professor Golfo Maggini, Anastasia Phylaktakidou, member of the EEP, Charalambos Matsoukas, member of the EEP, the Head of the Department of International Relations, Demi Siamopoulou and the Secretary of the Department of Economic Sciences, Olympia Tsapari.

The event concluded with a musical program by the students of the Department of Music Studies and the departure of the Olympic Flame with the student of the University of Ioannina, Ari Zaraga.

The ceremony is part of the celebration of sixty years of the University of Ioannina, which with great honor and respect hosted the Olympic Flame for the first time.