Tag Archives: S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

The Legacy of The Alexia Foundation

When entering a New Year, it’s just as important to look back at the years gone by and reflect on the world as time moves forward. As you may already know, it’s a small world that we live in and this is more than just a fashion blog. A couple of weeks ago, I was honored to receive an invitation to The Alexia Foundation‘s exclusive gallery event, Alexia: Images & Issues.  When I looked closer at the invitation, I immediately realized the personal connection I had to Alexia Tsairis for whom the foundation was founded in memory of.  On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by terrorists and went down over Lockerbie, Scotland leaving no survivors.  Among the victims of this horrible attack were 35 Syracuse University students returning home from a semester abroad.  Emerging photojournalist, Alexia Tsairis, was one of them.

I too attended Syracuse University where I pledged Pi Beta Phi, the same sorority Alexia was a member of.  I can still remember how four of her photos hung prominently in the Pi Phi house as a memorial to Alexia and two other sisters we lost to the Lockerbie bombing.  I even met her parents once when I attended the annual memorial service at the Remembrance Garden on campus with my Pi Phi sisters.  Upon seeing our letters, Mr. and Mrs. Tsairis came up to us to thank us for coming and to tell us how proud Alexia had been to be a Pi Phi.  In memory of their daughter’s tragic death, Alexia’s parents founded the The Alexia Foundation,  to continue Alexia’s legacy and love for photography by promoting the power of visual journalism as a means of exposing social injustices worldwide.

The Foundation has been working ever since to provide major grants and funding of up to $50,000 a year for photojournalists documenting humanitarian and social justice issues.  The Alexia Foundation showcase I will be attending later this month will feature the work of their award-winning photojournalists and will include approximately 35 images from the Alexia Foundation Archives, featuring recent winners Justin Maxon and Katie Orlinsky.  I so look forward to honoring the legacy of my sorority sister and her passion for photojournalism that still lives on.  Click here to find out more about how you can support The Alexia Foundation.

The Alexia Foundation is committed to supporting the work of photojournalists and their powerful ability to communicate through images and move each of us forward to a better understanding of the social injustice that exists around us. See the project at http://alexiafoundation.org/