Everyone is trying to understand the tense conflict in Ukraine right now, and Head of School Jay Rainey is no different. He recently connected with an alumnus from the Country Day School Class of 1973 who has studied the region for much of his career. Mr. Rainey quickly realized what a treasure we have, and invited Charlie Allen ’73 to campus Thursday, to address Upper School students in assembly. He introduced Mr. Allen to the audience:
Charlie Allen graduated from Saint Louis Country Day School in 1973 and studied Russian language, literature, and history first at Dartmouth College and then at Harvard University before joining Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 1980, where he worked in Paris in the Audience Research Division for nine years. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a United States government-funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East to promote the free flow of information in places where such openness is either banned by government authorities or is not fully developed.
While an undergraduate at Dartmouth, Mr. Allen enrolled in advanced Russian language study courses at Leningrad State University. After obtaining a business degree in France, Mr. Allen joined Bunge, a global food and agribusiness firm, in which he held a variety of international roles, both in Europe and in the United States, from 1991 until his retirement in 2018.
Mr. Allen is the author of several articles and translations, and he remains active in regional and national Slavic Studies organizations. He is in the process of translating a memoir by Victor Nekrasov, one of the Russian writers whom he knew in Paris.
Mr. Allen currently teaches 20th-century Russian literature at the Honors College of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Mr. Allen began by explaining that his time at CDS, particularly studying under Nadia Danett and other influential teachers, directly impacted the trajectory of his life. During his brief presentation, he gave students, faculty, and staff a solid foundation of what’s currently happening, admitting that the circumstances of his talk “are pretty awful.” He presented a historical timeline and cultural references that helped the audience understand how we’ve arrived at today’s situation. He covered what he suspects are Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations and the results of his actions to date. He then opened the floor for questions, and fielded a variety of inquiries from our curious students. After the assembly, several students stayed behind to continue the conversation. Many thanks to Mr. Allen for sharing his time and his thoughts with our community.
We are pleased to share Mr. Allen’s presentation and hope that you will find it as helpful as we did.
Throughout the day on Thursday, Upper School students, faculty, and staff supported a bake sale in Founders Court that was planned and executed by several students, with the support of their teachers. Proceeds from the sale went to CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund. Read more here.