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August 11, 2004
Student from Small Greek Village Arrives in NYC To Attend MMC
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 (New York, NY) He's not going to witness the Olympics in his home country, because Efthymios Pategos is pursuing Olympian plans of his own.
The 18-year-old from Variko, a small farming village in Northern Greece, Pategos, arrived at JFK Airport on August 12th and moved into a residence hall at Marymount Manhattan College. Experienced in agriculture and blacksmithing, at Marymount Manhattan he plans to study political science.
Inspired by the Russell Crowe character in the film, "A Beautiful Mind," which depicted a brilliant mathematician overcoming a debilitating illness, Pategos a few years ago began to work harder on his schoolwork, and eventually applied for a four-year scholarship to Marymount Manhattan. He was selected this spring for the scholarship, which includes tuition, room and board, health care and travel to and from Greece, and is funded by the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation.
"After seeing this movie, I started looking at my life in a different way," says Pategos. "I know now that fighting for what you really want can give you a meaningful life. I believe this (attending Marymount Manhattan) is going to change my life drastically."
Last year, Marymount Manhattan received a $250,000 grant from the Niarchos Foundation to fund the scholarship of a student from the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece. Pategos was selected this spring.
"Marymount Manhattan is extremely grateful to the Niarchos Foundation for such a generous gift," said President Judson R. Shaver. "International students are an ever-increasing part of our student body. In fact, our 2002 and 2003 valedictorians, Aekaterina Alevezaki and Zinovia Abatzis, respectively, are both Greek. I am confident that Efthymios will grow and learn during his four years here, and he will no doubt find many 'beautiful minds' among our students, faculty and staff, and in the rich, multi-cultural environment of New York."
U.S. News & World Report in 2004 ranked Marymount Manhattan College as the third most diverse liberal arts college in the nation.
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