President’s Message

Once upon a time, a young French teacher sat in the grand ballroom of the Barclay Hotel listening to Mme Emile Geyelin introduce speakers who spoke on political, literary and social topics «in the passé simple, bien sûr». Some of it she understood and some of it was difficult, but she persisted anyway. After having studied at the Sorbonne, she was determined to continue to develop proficiency in the language not only for herself but also for her students. Well, that teacher now greets you as the new President of the Alliance Française de Philadelphie, and I am honored and happy to do so. Never, during all those years of traveling to the Barclay on Wednesday evenings, did I ever imagine that I would be a future successor to Mme Geyelin.

I was and still am, first and foremost, an educator. In the footsteps of my predecessors, I hope to continue to advance the educational aspect of the Alliance as well as to promote and to define the many cultural and social events offered. My two major goals in this first year are to encourage as many members as possible to contribute to and to take advantage of the diverse and interesting programs of the Alliance and, secondly, to introduce the Alliance and its activities to local colleges and universities. I would like to do this by offering activities that would attract these students. Collaboration with other local Francophile/francophone organizations such as the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) and the French/American Chamber of Commerce is vital. Although we are on separate paths, we are all working toward the same goal – the promotion of French language and culture.

I also have plans to collaborate with other Alliances in order to offer programs for many of our French teachers who may be in need of our support. As an active member of the AATF, I am aware of the problems facing the French teachers today, and I strongly feel that collaboration between these two organizations is mutually beneficial. We owe a large debt of gratitude to all the teachers who work consistently in sometimes impossible situations but whose goal is to instill an appreciation for the beauty of the French language and culture in their students. As we all know, it has become increasingly difficult because of feelings between the U.S. and France and also because of the mind set of many administrators who have eliminated French programs in their schools in favor of Spanish programs. But the teachers persist and, in the face of these difficulties, several French programs have been saved.

We have a lot of work to do and I am ready to jump in.

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Officers President Diana M. Regan Liaison Committee, Chair Events Committee Scholarship Committee Vice-President Nancy Gabel Events Committee, Chair Liaison Committee Marketing Committee Vice-President Michèle Rosen Nominating Committee, Chair Secretary Delphine Lawrence Events Committee Treasurer Cecil Jones Finance Committee, Chair Nominating Committee

Directors Yvonne Bach Dr. Karl U. Bortnick Danièle Cohen Alfred De Prophetis Veronique Deleuze-Dordron Marie-Laure Epaminondas Lisa C. Franks Herbert Kean, MD Frédéric Leleu Sandra L. Nesbitt Therese C. Rawson Michael E. Scullin Joanne S. Silver Thomas H. Tropp, Esq.