Reformátusok Lapja, 1959 (59. évfolyam, 1-22. szám)
1959-07-01 / 13. szám
16 REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA Magyar Synod that ways and means be found to continue the higher education of our young people, with particular emphasis on interesting them in full time Christian work. The necessity of such an educational program is self-evident from the fact that we haven’t a single student studying for the ministry and, as a result, we must import men from other denominations to fill our vacancies. Moreover, we have a number of deaconess positions open and we cannot fill them because of the lack of trained girls in our denomination. The General Council appointed a special committee, consisting of Drs. Louis W. Goebel and Alexander Toth, and myself, to evolve a concrete plan. The committee agreed on the following: To fill the language requirement, one of our co-educational Colleges should specialize in the teaching of the Hungarian language and culture. After graduation from College those studying for the ministry should be sent to Eden where special lectures would equip them for their work in our Hungarian congregations. At the conclusion of their theological training they should be sent to Hungary as exchange students to perfect their Hungarian. Provisions for this have already been made . . . We feel that Elmhurst is the logical institution to undertake this work . . . We, therefore, request the Board of Trustees of Elmhurst College to employ a professor to teach the Hungarian subjects, Hungarian language and Hungarian culture, who, at the same time, should evolve a deaconess course. This would consist of courses mostly given with the addition of a two-hour course of practical training . . . In 1945, the General Council ended the period of experimentation and voted $1500.00 to support the “Hungarian Chair” at Elmhurst. Later, this sum was increased to $1800.00. The same year, Dr. Barnabas Dienes was appointed to a full-time teaching post at Elmhurst College so that he may devote all his time to teaching. He then resigned from his pastorate at the Chicago South Side Church. After the war in 1947, the Evangelical and Reformed Church gave Dr. Dienes a special assignment to visit war-torn Hungary and to seek out refugee camps in Europe. The Evangelical and Reformed Church desired to extend a helping hand and aid its Hungarian brethren wherever the denomination could do so. In 1948, the World Council of Churches, impressed by his work, asked Dr. Dienes to carry on his “ambassadorial” work in South America in behalf of the Hungarian refugees emigrating there. In January, 1950, Dr. Dienes died of a heart attack in South America. During his long absence from Elmhurst College, the Hungarian department had part-time instructors, because Dr. Dienes always planned to return, as soon as possible, to his “first love”, teaching. His sister-in-law, Mrs. Mary Dienes, of Boston, taught during 1947-48. Then for a brief period of weeks, Countess Teleki was the instructor. Soon in the 1948-49 school year, the Rev. Desmond Parragh, pastor of the West Side Hungarian Evangelical and Reformed Church in Chicago, was appointed instructor of Hungarian studies. In July, 1952, as a graduate of the Hungarian department and alumnus of Elmhurst College, August J. Molnár was named to head Hungarian studies in full-time capacity. As assistant director of admissions, he was charged with the special task of attracting students to the department of Hungarian studies. For the spring semester during 1955, while Professor Molnár was on leave of absence at Columbia University, Miss Etelka Vajda, of the language staff of Indiana University, taught Hungarian. The curriculum of the Hungarian department included a four-year program: beginning Hungarian language for freshmen; advanced Hungarian in the second year; in the junior year, history of Hungary, offered in the department of history also; and a senior course, survey of Hungarian literature. Not only students of Hungarian ancestry enrolled for Hungarian courses, but also students of other backgrounds. A real educational service was rendered by this modern language program. In the 1940’s, the Hungarian program at Elmhurst was a pioneer project. Today, contemporary thinking about foreign language instruction promotes the less-frequent taught languages. At first, the Hungarian library collection at Elmhurst consisted only of the few hundred Hungarian books loaned by Franklin and Marshall College. This collection grew year after year. While in Europe in 1947, Dr. Dienes purchased over 1000 Hungarian books with money provided by friends of the Hungarian Library Fund. The collection became one of the best of its kind in the United States. Thousands of dollars in scholarships for students who enrolled in the Hungarian department at Elmhurst came from the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, a legal reserve fraternal benefit society, from congregations of Magyar Synod and from individuals. The Theresa C. Közeli Award Fund of $1000.00 was established by the Közeli Estate and its trustee, the Hungarian Reformed Church of Munhall, Pa. Despite the closing of the Elmhurst Hungarian department, one can predict on the basis of the Protestant tradition and heritage of the
