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It is hard to imagine Orthodoxy in America without Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology—the only accredited Orthodox undergraduate, graduate school, and seminary in the United States. The two institutions have grown up like siblings over the past century with HCHC molding generations of clergy, pastoral assistants, youth workers, Sunday School teachers, parish leaders, and scholars serving the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and beyond.
In the early decades of the 20th century, the United States welcomed more than 15 million immigrants largely from Southern and Eastern Europe—Armenians, Greeks, Romanians, Russians, Serbians and Ukrainians and more. An early success of the Greek and Russian immigrant communities was the establishment of seminaries that would provide indigenous clergy for emerging parishes, notably Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1937 and Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in 1938.
The first home for Holy Cross was, from 1937 to 1948, in Pomfret, Connecticut. Unfortunately, Pomfret proved to be too remote of a location, so the school’s trustees purchased the Weld Estate, a scenic piece of land on a hill overlooking Boston which set in motion the school’s relocation to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1948.
It would be another 30 years before Hellenic College came into being.
Between 1948 and 1968, the Weld Estate was transformed with the mansion becoming the School’s administrative building while construction on other facilities were undertaken, including the Archbishop Cavadas dorm annex (1953), Cotsidas-Tonna Library (1960), Skouros Classroom Building (1960), Pappas Gymnasium (1960), Holy Cross Chapel (1963) and the three-story Polemanakos Dormitory, all done while educating a generation of dedicated clergy.
As the Chair of the Seminary’s Board of Trustees, the recently enthroned Archbishop Iakovos spearheaded the idea to establish Hellenic College as early as 1959. The proposition received Board support and a resolution was presented to the 1960 Clergy-Laity Congress held in Buffalo, NY. By the mid-1960s, several prominent Greek Orthodox laymen joined in advocating for the establishment of an undergraduate college along with transforming Holy Cross into an accredited school of theology.
Archbishop Iakovos understood that an institution of higher learning was a necessary component in gaining respectability within the American religious landscape and promoting the Church’s spiritual and intellectual inheritance.
In 1968, a year described by many as one of the most turbulent years in American history, Hellenic College opened its doors and was led by scholarchis Fr. Leonidas C. Contos. The College adopted a four-year undergraduate curriculum, following the American curricular model that provided general and specialized education programs that culminated in the conferral of a Baccalaureate degree.
After 30 years of leadership under several hierarchs and presbyters as president, the Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Thomas C. Lelon as the first lay president of the school in 1976. During his tenure, Holy Cross earned full accreditation in the United States and Canada along with Hellenic College receiving accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
During the 1970s and 80s, the campus experienced another period of expansion which included the construction of multiple facilities saw a spate of capital projects including the Maliotis Cultural Center with its 450-seat auditorium, exhibition halls, classrooms and offices; the Halki Seminarian Residence; Dendrinos Village for married student housing as well as new soccer fields and tennis courts.
As the 20th century came to a close, Bishop Demetrios of Vresthena was enthroned as Archbishop and Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in 1999. As such, he became Chairman of the HCHC Board of Trustees. Archbishop Demetrios was well-suited to lead the school, having studied and instructed at Harvard University and taught at HCHC for 10 years as a professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins. He was an effective advocate for the school at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Archdiocese, and beyond.
In the summer of 2000, Fr. Nicholas C. Triantafilou was installed as president of HCHC after 23 fruitful years as Proistamenos of the Annunciation Cathedral in Houston, Texas. Fr. Triantafilou brought an understanding of the needs and expectations of priests and parishioners and did so with pastoral care and faith-centered leadership that uplifted the school community. Fr. Triantafilou’s 15-year term as president was marked by strategic planning, revised governance, capital improvements, and successful fundraising.
The Scholi Today
As we progress through the 2026-27 academic year, HCHC continues to be a growing, vibrant community and remains the only residential Orthodox Christian college in the U.S. While college enrollment is generally down across the country, religious institutions such as HCHC are bucking this trend. Our school welcomed 80 new students (46 at Hellenic College, 34 at Holy Cross) to campus this year. For the fourth consecutive year, HCHC is seeing its student population grow by more than 20 percent.
May God continue to bless Hellenic College Holy Cross, all who pursue spiritual formation there, and all who make their education possible. And may God bless our Archdiocese, its parishes, and the faithful as well as the United States as it celebrates 250 years of freedom.
This article is published as part of the America at 250: Orthodoxy in a New Homeland media initiative co-organized by the Orthodox Observer and the Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, and Interfaith Relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to honor the contributions and experience of Orthodox Christianity in America and celebrate 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
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