AHEPA Announces 2017 Scholar-Athlete Awardees
The AHEPA National Athletic Department’s Scholar-Athlete Selection Committee has selected nine Scholar-Athlete Award recipients for 2017, announced Supreme President Andrew Zachariades, Supreme Athletic Director Lou Atsaves and Gregory J. Stamos, chairman of the Selection Committee. They will be honored at the Athletic Luncheon held at the 95th AHEPA Family Supreme Convention, July 27, 2017, Orlando, Fla. read more
AHEPA Welcomes Rep. Bacon to Hellenic Caucus
AHEPA welcomes news that U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) has joined the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, announced Supreme President Andrew C. Zachariades. Congressman Bacon represents the 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska, which includes Omaha. Bacon served nearly 30 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Brigadier General.
“We are deeply grateful to Congressman Bacon for joining the Caucus,” Zachariades said. “We appreciate his service to our nation and look forward to working with him, and his staff, on issues of importance to the American Hellenic community. We also commend the grassroots efforts of our members in Omaha for their successful outreach to the congressman.”
Rep. Bacon serves on three committees: Armed Services, Agriculture, and Small Business. Membership in the Hellenic Caucus now stands at 125.
Add Your Voice: Parthenon Marbles Congressional Resolution
Add your voice. Tell Congress to back the return of the Parthenon Marbles. Help pass a congressional resolution that expresses the sense of Congress hat the United Kingdom should enter into negotiations with Greece to facilitate the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. learn more
Rebuild St. Nicholas Campaign
AHEPA is determined to meet its Saint Nicholas Capital Campaign fund raising goal of $1 million. Donations–large and small–keep pouring in for AHEPA’s #RebuildStNicholas capital campaign.
ICYMI | Our campaign continues its momentum as we head into summer. Thank you AHEPA Parthenon Chapter 405, Whitestone, N.Y., $5,000; and Lord Baltimore Chapter 364, Baltimore Md, $500, for their donations to the campaign!
#RebuildStNicholas campaign webpage
Check Out: Our panel of donors
TAKE ACTION!
Has your district or chapter organized a fundraiser for the campaign to #RebuildStNicholas? Take action and support AHEPA’s campaign today! Please tweet about your fundraising activity by using #RebuildStNicholas to share your work with the broader community!
Share Media
St. Nicholas Appeal Video
AHEPA has produced its latest appeal video to help #RebuildStNicholas.
TAKE ACTION: Donate Today!
MORE TO SHARE: Initial appeal video released at the 94th Grand Banquet!
Project Update
Live Webcam!
Thanks to a live webcam, you can watch progress being made with a first-hand look at the site where Saint Nicholas National Shrine will be build.
Washington Update
AHEPA Commends Hellenic Caucus for Effort to Block Small-Arms Sale to Turkish Security Detail
AHEPA applauds the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, co-chaired by U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), for leading a bipartisan effort to urge Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to halt a small-arms sale that would ultimately benefit Turkish President Erdogan’s security detail–the very detail responsible for the brutal attack upon peaceful American protesters in Washington, DC, in May.
Maloney Raises Parthenon Marbles at Subcommittee Hearing on Exploitation of Cultural Property
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Hellenic Caucus co-chair, co-sponsor of H.Con.Res.51, and senior member, House Committee on Financial Services, raised the story of the Parthenon Marbles at a Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on “The Exploitation of Cultural Property: Examining Illicit Activity in the Antiquities and Art Trade” on June 23 (video). In remarks that led up to questioning of the witnesses, Rep. Maloney stated:
“…this is hardly a new practice. In the early 1800s ,when Greece was under Ottoman rule, a British nobleman took over 100 pieces of the historic Parthenon in Athens, and under very questionable circumstances ,he then sold these artifacts known as the Parthenon Marbles, or sculptures, to the British Museum, where they remain today. These are probably the most important antiquities in Greece, prepared, developed by Greek artists owned by Greece, and yet, a representative of an occupying nation sold them. He certainly didn’t have the right to sell them. In fact, in my opinion, they were stolen, and I’ve introduced a resolution that calls for the two countries to negotiate the return of the Parthenon Marbles because these artifacts have incredible value and cultural significance to the Greek people…”
Tell Congress to Back the Return of the Parthenon Marbles
AHEPA commends the introduction of H.Con.Res.51, a bipartisan, concurrent resolution that expresses the sense of Congress that the Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Greece. U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced the resolution, May 2.
It’s a New Congress! Help Grow the Hellenic Caucus!
The 115th Congress is well underway. And with it, the work renews for the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, led by Co-chairs U.S. Reps. Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY). The Hellenic Caucus has 124 members.
Is your U.S. representative a member of the Hellenic Caucus? Click here to find out.
Download & Share: Action alert to help you outreach to Congress
The Hellenic Caucus has been an active, bipartisan group in Congress since its founding in 1995.
Upcoming Events & Deadlines
July
25-29 | AHEPA Family 95th Supreme Convention, Orlando, Fla.
August
14 | Deadline for fall issue of The Ahepan
Greek American News Digest
Editor’s Note: Editorials, Commentaries, and Opinion pieces are shared for information purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy positions of the Order of AHEPA, its affiliated organizations, and members.
UN envoy: Up to Cyprus leaders to make most of peace summit
Associated Press (June 27)
The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus have to step up, take responsibility and make the most of a peace summit that’s the “best chance” for a breakthrough deal reunifying the east Mediterranean island, a United Nations envoy said Tuesday. read more
Cyprus uses high-tech tools to speed search for its missing
Associated Press (June 23)
With glue gun in hand, Turkish Cypriot anthropologist Sinem Hossoz meticulously pieces together tiny fragments — the pulverized skull of a child, one of the youngest victims of conflict on ethnically divided Cyprus. read more
Cyprus signs deal to build ‘Europe’s largest casino’
YAHOO! News via Associated Press (June 26)
Cyprus signed a deal Monday for the construction of what officials say will be Europe’s biggest casino.The small Mediterranean island nation’s government backed proposals from a consortium made up of Hong Kong-based Melco International, the U.S.’s Hard Rock and local firm CNS Group to build the casino resort in the coastal town of Limassol. read more
Dimitri Papadimitriou: Greece on the road to recovery
BBC (June 27)
“Serious investments have taken place in Greece,” the Greek Minister for the Economy and Development Dimitri Papadimitriou tells Stephen Sackur. read more
Why the White House Is Reading Greek History
Politico (June 21)
The Trump White House isn’t known as a hot spot for Ivy League intellectuals. But last month, a Harvard academic slipped into the White House complex for an unusual meeting. Graham Allison, an avuncular foreign policy thinker who served under Reagan and Clinton, was paying a visit to the National Security Council, where he briefed a group of staffers on one of history’s most studied conflicts—a brutal war waged nearly 2,500 years ago, one whose lessons still resonate, even in the administration of a president who doesn’t like to read.The subject was America’s rivalry with China, cast through the lens of ancient Greece. The 77-year-old Allison is the author of a recent book based on the writings of Thucydides, the ancient historian famous for his epic chronicle of the Peloponnesian War between the Greek states of Athens and Sparta. read more
Will Smith’s Family Lends Helping Hand at Greek Beaches
The Pappas Post (June 23)
Greece’s summer tourist season is in full-effect, which means her beautiful beaches have been packed and (apparently) polluted… until a few celebrities offered their assistance.Award-winning actor Will Smith and his family paused their vacation when 17-year-old daughter Willow insisted on cleaning beaches on the island of Antipaxos. read more
Aegean Air – Greece by Greeks Promo Features NBA Star, AHEPA Harry Agganis Awardee Giannis Antetokounmpo
June 27
#upcomingevents #greekamericannews #greece #ahepa #diaspora #enews #serviceorganization #grassroots #rebuildstnicholas #congress #returnthemarbles #helleniccaucus #athletics #ReturntheMarbles #Cyprus