GRADUATES
IN T H E NEWS
Suna Kıraç, ACG 60, lighting a candle
for education during the Annual Giving
Kick-off dinner of 1995. She was the
guest speaker at the event.
Suna Kıraç, ACG 60,
A Tale of Courage
R
eaders have been gripped by the larger-than-life m e m o i r s of renowned
b u s i n e s s w o m a n and philanthropist S u n a Kıraç, A C G 6 0 , who suffers from
A m y o t r o p h i c Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, a rare
disease which has s e e n her lose all her motor skills. S h o r t l y after publication on
J u n e 15th, 2 0 0 6 , Ömrümden Uzun ideallerim Var, (I Have Dreams L o n g e r Than
My Years) b e c a m e an overnight best-seller. The book is expected to sell more
than 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 copies by October.
Kıraç began writing the book in 1998, but was interrupted by the diagnosis of
the disease which would progressively destroy her motor functions and
eventually see her confined to a bed, able to c o m m u n i c a t e only by blinking her
eyes. The book was eventually c o m p l e t e d this y e a r by her husband İnan Kıraç and
colleague C e n g i z Solakoğlu, and edited by Rıdvan Akar.
Kıraç writes openly of growing up in Turkey's illustrious Koç family and her
education at A C G from age 12, which she says were " t h e best years of my life".
She recalls dinner on her first day. Seated at the table of then headmistress Miss
S u m m e r s , Kıraç refused to eat the s a u s a g e s put in front of her. " T h e
headmistress warned me, 'if you don't eat that, you and I will be here until
m o r n i n g ' . So I swallowed the s a u s a g e s . From that day on, I have eaten whatever
is put in front of me. On my first day at the College, I learnt an a m a z i n g lesson."
Kıraç writes of being v e r y m o v e d by the novel Çalıkuşu, by Reşat Nuri
Güntekin, as an Orta 2 student. She spent that s u m m e r v o l u n t e e r teaching at an
impoverished primary s c h o o l . "Despite being very y o u n g , I felt the weight of the
country's poverty and the s o r r y state of education here," she writes. It was to be
the beginning of a lifelong c a m p a i g n for better education in Turkey.
Kıraç credits the College with having given her many values, " m o s t
importantly, we learned to make friends without being s e l f i s h " . She also
discusses her friendships with a " b o h e m i a n " crowd of fellow RC and A C G
students who included Ayşe Şaşa, A C G 67, Engin Cezzar, RC 5 5 , G e n c o Erkal, RC
57 and others.
Later, Kıraç writes in detail of her m a r r i a g e to İnan Kıraç, w h o m she describes
as " t h e greatest gift of my life", and her successful s u b s e q u e n t career in
business.
She recalls the horror and pain of being diagnosed with A L S , which destroys
motor capabilities while leaving brain functions intact. The book is a testament
to the extraordinary courage s h o w n by Kıraç in the face of this illness, and the
loving s u p p o r t she receives f r o m her friends and family.
Despite her total immobility - her husband Inan for instance, finds a way to
take her to Paris, a city she loved, and even to lower her into the M e d i t e r r a n e a n
to feel the water - Kıraç is still mentally active, c o m m u n i c a t i n g by blinking her
eyes to signify letters. She is also involved with projects, including plans to build
a massive new cultural center.
All proceeds from the book will go to the Turkish Education V o l u n t e e r s
Foundation, which Kıraç helped found and of which she writes: "We will never get
anywhere by lamenting the state of this c o u n t r y and criticizing the ones in power.
We have to b e c o m e part of the s o l u t i o n . That can only happen through an
organized m o v e m e n t . L a c k of e d u c a t i o n ! This is at the heart of all that is wrong."
A g e n e r o u s philanthropist, Kıraç served as RC Trustee from 1989 to 2001 and
was the major d o n o r for the school's S u n a Kıraç Theater Hall erected in 1991,
named in her honor.
Metin Ergin, RC 46
Journalist
Metin Ergin,
RC 46, Publishes
Memoirs
eteran journalist Metin Ergin, RC 4 6 , has
collected his impressions from an eventful life
in İşte Biz Böyleyiz (That's How We Are), by Altın
Kitaplar. A lively account of 60 years at the
forefront of Turkey's recent history, s e c t i o n s of the
book will be of particular interest to RC graduates.
He recalls for instance: "In 1942, the f a m o u s poet
Necip Fazıl Kısakürek c a m e to Robert College as a
literature teacher and taught us for t w o years. A
lot of people said 'You've had it, he's mad...He's got
a terrible temper... ' But in a s h o r t time we
understood what an incredible teacher he
w a s . W h i l e other literature teachers would have us
reading in class, Necip Fazıl taught us: how to write
a news story, how to create a play, the fine art of
s h o r t story writing, the secrets of being a poet and
tips for writing a novel."
In a n o t h e r anecdote, he describes how at Robert
College students were taught to sing the İstiklal
Marşı (Turkish national anthem) based on its
musical structure. No m e m o r i z i n g was allowed.
Ergin a l s o talks about several important teachers,
including c h e m i s t r y teacher J o h n Burns, G e r m a n
teacher Prof. Kunick and literature teacher C h a r l e s
M c N e a l . " C h a r l e s M c N e a l was a n A m e r i c a n w h o
had a lot of curiosity about Turkey. He arrived in
Turkey on a boat f r o m A m e r i c a in 1920, when he
was just 23. En route, he met Muhsin E r t u ğ r u l . In
the 39 years he taught at Robert College, he never
missed one of the İstanbul City T h e a t e r s ' plays...In
his teaching career he taught one prime minister,
one mayor, four ministers, three holding owners, 12
journalists and hundreds of business people. When
called upon he would tell his students 'Don't be
keen to go a b r o a d . S e r v e your own country,'."
P e r h a p s the most touching recollection f r o m
Ergin's s c h o o l years is when he recounts meeting
the son of a well-known c h e e s e factory o w n e r in
1938. He noticed that this c h e e s e industry scion
was always with the s a m e friend. That boy turned
out to be his father's butler's son - the industrialist
had insisted that they both attend the s c h o o l , and
in fact s u p p o r t e d both boys through university.
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