Athens and Tomaras Honored

Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology held their 68th commencement on Saturday, May 15, 2010 and conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities on two prominent members of Leadership 100, Andrew A. Athens, a Founder and its first Chairman, and Chris P. Tomaras, a prominent businessman and philanthropist, Founder of the PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation, both of Chicago.

The College also conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on His Eminence, Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, who has represented the Ecumenical Patriarchate in various capacities for many years. The College conferred the Bachelor of Arts degree on twelve graduates while the School of Theology conferred the Master of Theology degree on eight graduates, the Master of Theological Studies on six graduates and the Master of Divinity degree on 22 graduates. The Hellenic College valedictorian was George Tsongranis and the Holy Cross valedictorian was Andrew Williams.

Commencement week began, as is customary, with HCHC Alumni Association meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. Protopresbyter Byron Papanikolaou was honored as Alumnus of the Year at a dinner Thursday evening. His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios, presided at Great Vespers on Friday evening at the Holy Cross Chapel. The graduating seniors of Holy Cross were given crosses by the Archbishop at the conclusion of the service in what is known as the Stavrophoria.