Initiation 2011

November 10, 2011

American University of Central Asia initiated its 19th class of freshmen on November 8, 2011, at the Kyrgyz National Philharmonic.  The initiation ceremony dates back to 1997, when then first lady Hillary Clinton addressed students at the official opening of the American University in Kyrgyzstan. The current freshmen were greeted by an equally impressive American woman, Ambassador Pamela Spratlen.

Ambassador Spratlen spoke to the freshmen about choice, about those already made and the many yet to come. She encouraged students to read Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” adding that when this group of freshmen graduates in 2015, it will also mark the 100th anniversary of the poem. Ambassador Spratlen told graduates that they had already made a life-defining choice by coming to AUCA, and that over the next four years they would be faced with many challenging decisions. She advised students to not make choices based on ease or comfort, but to challenge themselves, to learn guitar, to study psychology, to take the road less traveled.

AUCA President Andrew Wachtel also addressed the students. The ambassador’s remarks reminded him of the Russian parable of Ivan Durachok, who, faced with a choice of three deadly roads, goes blindly down one with all his heart, never doubting, and lives happily ever after. How this particular piece of Russian folklore will guide AUCA freshmen is yet to be determined. The speeches were followed by a fantasticly loud concert produced by Dean of Students Nikolay Shulgin.

The highlight of the concert was a parody of “The Matrix,” in which Chair of the AUCA Board of Trustees William Newton-Smith, played by Laurence Fishbourne (Morpheus), convinces then Dean Andrew Wachtel, played by Keanu Reeves (Neo), to take the presidency at AUCA.  Scattered throughout the concert was a constant reminder of the AUCA Foundation Wall and the possibility for people to donate to the new campus in return for a brick with their personal message.  At the mid-show auction the "Most Expensive Brick" was sold for $400 to one of the newly elected student senators Nursultan Abukhalilov [Eco-111] (no campaign money was spent on acquiring the brick).

The concert lasted for one and a half hours, culminating, as always, with AUCA students in concert with the audience singing the AUCA fight song.  There are many times throughout the year when the AUCA community comes together to celebrate, but none perhaps presents the breadth and warmth of the AUCA spirit as much as Initiation.  The warmth especially was appreciated, as the parties and celebration continued well on into the first cold, winter night of the year in Bishkek.

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