Orthodox Christian Studies Center Raises $1 Million

Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center has come two-thirds of the way toward a key fundraising goal, co-founders of the center announced at a benefit party in Manhattan on June 17.

Aristotle "Telly" Papanikolaou (left) and George
Demacopoulos at Thalassa

"Within 18 months, we’ve raised a million dollars,” Aristotle “Telly” Papanikolaou, Ph.D., FCRH ’88, told the cheering crowd of benefactors and friends at Tribeca’s Thalassa restaurant, owned by brothers Steve Makris, GSB ’89, and Jerry Makris, GSB ’87. “We thank you very much for your prayers and your support.”

Proceeds from the benefit support the center’s efforts to fulfill a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) challenge grant awarded in December 2012. The grant requires the center to raise $1.5 million over four and a half years, which will be matched by a $500,000 award from the NEH.

Papanikolaou, Fordham’s Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture and a senior fellow and co-founder of the center, called the grant “the single greatest affirmation of what we’re doing.”

“The government is saying, ‘We want to help,’” said Papanikolaou. “We need to heed the call.”

George Demacopoulos, Ph.D., professor of historical theology, director, and co-founder of the center, said that for too long, Orthodox Christianity has been an “asterisk” in discussions about religion. The only way to change that, he said, “is by funding research in Orthodox Christian Studies in institutions of higher learning, and investing in education.”

The Orthodox Christian Studies Center works to support the continued study of Orthodox Christian theology and culture. The $2 million endowment resulting from the NEH grant will fund the center’s Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence program and Dissertation Completion Fellowship program. Fordham’s proposal to the NEH, Papanikolaou said, is now being used as a model by the agency.

About 180 supporters gathered for the benefit party, held for the second year in a row at Thalassa (Greek for “the sea”). The airy, upscale spot features many authentic touches from Greece, including a curved bar made of marble from the island of Thasos, flower-filled urns from Tripoli, and handmade wooden tables from Mykonos.

Guests went home with a copy of Dialogue of Love: Breaking the Silence of Centuries (Fordham University Press, 2014), a book that commemorates the historic 1964 visit to the Holy Land by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. It was published this year in honor of the May meeting in Jerusalem between Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who received an honorary degree from Fordham in 2009.

--Nicole  LaRosa

University to Install First Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture

On Nov. 18, Fordham University will install Aristotle Papanikolaou, Ph.D., as the first Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture during a special ceremony at the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. It is the nation’s first university-endowed chair dedicated specifically to Orthodox Christianity.

“I’m deeply honored to be the inaugural holder of the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, which rightly honors the remarkable legacy of my former professor at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios,” said Papanikolaou, a professor of theology and the senior fellow and co-founder of Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center.

“I am also deeply grateful to Mary and Michael Jaharis, who established this Chair with such grace and humility. The establishment of this Chair is an historic moment for the Orthodox Church and it will help carve out a new chapter in Orthodox-Catholic relations.”

Named for His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, the chair is the result of a $2 million gift from the Jaharis Family Foundation, which provides grants to arts, cultural, and religious institutions. The establishment of the chair marks a first for Orthodox studies nationally and ensures the discipline’s perpetuity at Fordham.

“This is the first chair in Orthodox theology at any university in the country,” said George Demacopoulos, Ph.D., professor of theology and co-founding director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center. “This chair is in many ways one of the cornerstones of the center, so its holder will always be fully integrated with the work and mission of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.”

Founded by Papanikolaou and Demacopoulos in 2007, the Orthodox Christian Studies Center is the first university-based site for Orthodox Christian Studies in the western hemisphere. Its mission is to foster intellectual inquiry and ecumenical dialogue by supporting scholarship and teaching critical to the ecclesial community, public discourse, and the promotion of Christian unity. Events include the annual Orthodoxy in America Lecture Series and the Patterson Triennial Conference in Orthodox/Catholic Relations, as well as a host of curricular, research, and outreach activities throughout the year pertaining to the study of Orthodox Christianity.

Last year, the Center received a prestigious challenge grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH), one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. The $2 million endowment that will come from both the center and NEH in a three-to-one matching grant will fund the center’s Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence program and Dissertation Completion Fellowship program.

Fordham is the only university in the United States to offer an interdisciplinary minor in Orthodox Christian studies.

— Joanna Klimaski