Crippen Visits Alumni in Slovakia
John Jay Institute Global Network Emerges
Bratislava, Slovakia - John Jay Institute President Alan Crippen visited alumni in the Slovak Republic this month. Having taught Slovak students for eleven years, Crippen was eager to see the fruit of his labors in Central Europe. At the invitation of the Ladislav Hanus Fellowship and the Collegium Anton Neuwrith (inter-collegiate leadership development organizations founded by alumni) Crippen was warmly received and inspired by what he saw. "When walking the streets of central city Bratislava I kept running into Hanus Fellowship alumni. It seemed as if they are all over the place – in the Slovak Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, the U.S. Embassy, the Central European Business and Social Initiative, LUX Television, and other print journalism media including Slovakia’s leading business weekly Trend," Crippen said. "It’s just amazing to see what young people 
of vision have accomplished for their country in so short a time. The spiritual, moral, economic, and political scars of communism are being erased by our alumni and their students."
Eight years ago Dr. Martin Luteran and Roman Karabelli (former students of Crippen) started the Hanus Fellowship. Now with sixteen graduated classes, there are over 200 alumni serving Slovakia in government, media, public policy think-tanks, pro-life advocacy organizations, education and business enterprises. Their service is not limited to greater Bratislava, the capital city, but alumni are also placed in other key cities including Kosice and Ruzomberok where Dr. Jan Banus teaches philosophy at a new Christian university. Luteran’s entrepreneurial and educational vision recently has expanded with the successful launch of a new organization – the Collegium Anton Neuwirth, an inter-collegiate residential Christian study-center for university students 
in Bratislava. This new organization extends Luteran’s vision for the Hanus Fellowship and flows from his desire to leverage the transformative experience of residential study in Christian community. Its first class graduates next month.
The Hanus Fellowship and the Collegium sponsored several events at which Crippen spoke during his visit. The numureous opportunities included the commissioning ceremony of the most recent Hanus Fellowship class at Comenius University, a lecture on "Christianity and the American Order" for the Theological Faculty of Trnavskej University, an interview with LUX Television, a speech for the Free Market Roadshow sponsored by the Central European Business and Social Initiative, and a class session on the character of leadership with the Collegium’s students.
