Because of the P.E.O. Sisterhood’s International Peace Scholarship (IPS), Cottey College students got to take a special one-hour credit course in January on Brazil: Its Culture and People. That’s because Dr. Neda Bezerra from the University of Fortaleza, an IPS scholar in 1996, wanted to “contribute back for what P.E.O. did for me,” as she said in a recent interview.

Bezerra came to the United States in 1988 to visit an American friend. She began taking classes at Millersville University in Millersville, Pennsylvania, doing babysitting and anything else she could find to pay the bills as she worked on her degree.

In 1996, Bezerra was in graduate school at the University of Florida and picked up a brochure she saw in the International Office. It was a pamphlet on IPS. One of her friends had also received an IPS scholarship and that is how she was introduced to IPS and P.E.O. Bezerra had her IPS scholarship renewed twice, and graduated with her Ph.D. from Florida.

She returned to Brazil where she directs the study abroad program for the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR). English-speaking students can enroll at UNIFOR and take classes in English while learning Portuguese. Bezerra teaches courses in anthropology, sociology, research methods, Portuguese, and English.

One notable difference between an American university and one in Brazil is faculty are paid only for the hours they are actually instructing in the classroom. Grading and research are done on the professor’s time. Most Brazilian professors teach 40 hours per week to make a living wage.

Brazilian universities have a month-long break in January, and last year, Bezerra traveled back to Millersville to conduct a short course on Brazil. It was the first time she had returned to her Pennsylvanian alma mater since 1992.

She had loved her visit and was wanting another opportunity to come back to the United States and share her expertise. She had heard of Cottey College through P.E.O. and contacted the College to see if Cottey might be interested in having her come and teach. The course work had already been prepared, so it was a matter of making arrangements.

Of course Cottey was thrilled to offer students this bonus course and said yes. Of all the things Bezerra hoped to convey to the students was the incredible diversity of the country. “One word that defines Brazil is diversity,” she said. “A US student would be surprised to see two Brazils: one highly developed and industrialized, and one not. There is such a contrast between the haves and the have nots.”

Bezerra appreciates and loves her home country, but also cherishes her time spent in the United States. In fact it is her own personal diversity which has led her to the position she holds today at UNIFOR. She has lived in both the United States and Brazil, speaks both English and Portuguese, and has a background in languages, social sciences, and history. “It’s been a long and winding road,” says Bezerra as she traces a serpentine pattern in the air with her forefinger, “but it was rich and gave me opportunities to do things I might not have otherwise.”

Editor’s Note: This year, 2009, the P.E.O. Sisterhood’s International Peace Scholarship (IPS) celebrates its 60th anniversary. Cottey has been honored over the years to have several outstanding international students come to Cottey with the assistance of IPS. One of the first IPS Scholars to attend Cottey was Maria Lycouressi Argy ‘52. Her story is below.

Currently Cottey has 12 IPS Scholars enrolled, and three of those students are ranked in the top ten of their class. It’s no secret why Cottey enjoys its partnership with IPS. Some of the best and brightest students from around the world get to attend Cottey College because of IPS.

 Cottey College congratulates IPS on its 60th anniversary.

The Gift of Cottey

 As a young girl growing up in Greece during World War II, Maria Lycouressi Argy ‘52, remembers well the German occupation of her country. From soldiers marching in the streets to mass starvation, Greece was a difficult place during her childhood. Maria’s parents believed in education and her father considered the United States “the hope of the world,” so when the family learned of the P.E.O. Sisterhood’s new International Peace Scholarship, Maria’s parents encouraged her to study in the United States. It was a gift that would change her life, for it was the gift of Cottey College.

The trip to Cottey was no small feat; it took 17 days to travel from Maria’s home in Athens to the Cottey campus in Nevada, Missouri. After growing up in a large city, Nevada was somewhat of a shock. “I missed the big city and being able to get lost in the people,” she said. Still, one of her first impressions of America was that everything was so big compared to Greece, such as the trees, stones, and distances.

Like many international students, there were some difficult adjustments to life in small-town America for Maria. While she was happy academically, she sometimes struggled personally. She remembers the connections with other people as something that made the transition to America easier, from visiting the home of the local woman who did student laundry to a local minister who invited students into his home. Another highlight of her time at Cottey was going home to Iowa with her roommate, Sandra Armstrong Thompson ‘52.

During Maria’s time as a Cottey student, President Blanche Hinman Dow took the young international student under her wing. Maria remembers receptions at the President’s house and spending time talking with Dr. Dow about where to continue her education after Cottey. Maria ultimately decided on Smith College (the President’s alma mater) and finished her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English in three years at Smith. Maria is quick to attribute her academic success to the educational foundation established at Cottey College, as well as to the personal attention by Dr. Dow, to whom she refers as “exceptional.”

After graduating with honors from Smith, Maria went back to Greece, where she met Dimitri Argy, who had recently completed his Ph.D. in Germany. The couple moved to the United States, where Dimitri became an engineering professor at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. The Argys eventually moved to the south shore of Massachusetts for Dimitri to teach. He is now retired from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Maria also became a professor and taught English at Bristol Community College for 25 years. The couple have two sons, Odysseus and Nicolas, both of whom are physicians in Massachusetts.

In appreciation of the College and the P.E.O. Sisterhood that brought his mother to study in the United States, Odysseus established a Cottey scholarship in 2002 in his mother’s honor. Each year, Dr. Argy contributes to the Maria Lycouressi Family Scholarship, which benefits deserving students studying the sciences, health sciences, or education. As a teacher herself whose life was changed by education, Maria understands the need for scholarships and is thrilled that each year, another young woman receives the gift of Cottey College.