Read more about Evansville’s international community in the January/February 2025 feature story.
Universities often are catalysts to bring residents to the Evansville region and keep them here.
Consider the example of culinary entrepreneurs Doros and Ellada Hadjisavva — natives of Cyprus who first came to the U.S. for college in the early 1990s.
Ellada’s father had a friend who lived in Owensboro, Kentucky, a connection that led her to enroll at Brescia University, earning a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages. Doros joined her in Kentucky after receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting at New Jersey’s Montclair State University.
Ellada then worked for 11 years as an international recruiter for Murray State University from the institution’s Henderson, Kentucky, campus. The Hadjisavvas have been a presence in the region ever since — their Acropolis restaurant served Mediterranean fare for more than 20 years before closing in 2021. The Hadjisavvas transitioned their business into event space Venue 812 and Acropolis Catering & Food Truck.
The University of Evansville’s Office of Cultural Engagement and International Services and the University of Southern Indiana’s Center for International Programs help meet the needs of international students on both campuses — students who, like the Hadjisavvas and many others, may wind up making the Evansville region their permanent home.
“The reason we came was to pursue education, and we wound up staying,” Ellada says.
