Drury University plans campus in Greece

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Grecian port city of Volos has been picked as the site for Drury University's first overseas campus.

Students at the Springfield liberal arts campus first worked with Volos officials in 1997 to develop ways for the city to promote itself, said Alkis Tsolakis, an architecture professor whose family is from Volos.

"The people of Volos were ready for it," said Tsolakis, who negotiated the deal between the city and Drury, which was being announced Monday. "It was something that brought them not only enjoyment but benefits."

The Drury University Center will be housed in the second-floor of a 1920s-era tobacco warehouse in the center of Volos. City officials will remodel and furnish the warehouse, and Drury will rent out the space, which includes a 200-seat auditorium, gallery and classrooms.

Twenty students are expected to go to Volos this fall. They'll be able to enroll in courses about Greek and Mediterranean culture and take field trips to historic sites.

A global studio course will present future problems in the region to students, who will devise solutions with the help of officials from the Volos Municipal Planning Agency and Municipal Center for History and Research. Those agencies are located in the same building as the Drury University Center.

"The culture shock and livelihood of the country is what I'm looking forward to," said Ashley Mizenko, 20, a junior architecture major. She and seven other students will be charged with developing plans for an archeological park at the ancient site of Demetrias, near Volos.

"I have no idea what it will be like, but I'm excited at the potential," she said.