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>> Fifteen years ago, a unique partnership
was formed. The Hellenic Heritage Foundation chose York
University as the place to establish the
Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair in Modern Greek history. This
investment was just the beginning, and it's
attracted support from others in the Greek community,
including a recent $1 million donation from the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Today, York is an international
hub of Hellenic studies, offering courses
in Greek language, literature, history, and culture.
>> Well, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation has done a
wonderful job in advocating and promoting Greek culture. And, York
having such a wonderful program in Hellenic studies has benefited
from the relationship with the foundation through the support that
we have been receiving. And that enabled us to launch and sustain this program.
>> The original gift from Hellenic Heritage Foundation and subsequent
scholarships helped us get the Stavros Niarchos donation of $1 million. It's
had three impacts at York. The first, which is the one that
the Hellenic Heritage Foundation wanted, is it promoted York as a center
for the Greek community and its interests and its culture and heritage and the
propounding of that culture and heritage to the wider Canadian community. The
second is the impact on York itself.
It's enhanced York's relationship with that community,
and encouraged other departments and programs to
look in the direction of Greece and
Greek universities that are our partners. And the third, which is in some
ways the most important for, for Toronto, has to do with all the
other ethnic communities for which the
Hellenic Heritage Foundation has been a model.
They have inspired and they have
encouraged an interest in their own history.
>> The Hellenic Heritage Foundation's contribution to
the bigger picture is complemented by the many
scholarships and fellowships they've funded that directly
impact the lives of individual students at York.
>> So, this whole year has been covered
by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation, which is really
wonderful. It's just a great opportunity to,
really dedicate myself to my studies instead
of focusing on other things. So, having the ability to go out to a Greek community
in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to actually live their experience
is what I'm really looking forward to and I
think it's exciting to have that ability to talk about their story.
>> To have the support of the Hellenic Heritage Foundation,
it's really, it's really great. It's inspiring in a way
because it gives, a whole new relevancy to
what you're doing, and that you're actually making a useful contribution.
>> Chris Grafos, a PhD candidate and Hellenic Heritage Foundation fellowship
recipient, is Co-Steward of the Greek Canadian History Project, a unique
initiative at York that is collecting and preserving materials that
reflect the experience of Canada's Greek immigrants and their descendants.
>> The response has been overwhelmingly positive. People are really coming forward
now and saying, how can we get involved? We really love what
you're doing. And so, we've created a buzz within the community that's
really being, that's really beneficial to us. But more importantly, it's gonna be
really useful to people down the road who will,
otherwise would never would have these documents available to them.
>> The main thing I enjoy, I would say, is of a
constant interest, and in fact increasing interest, that students show to what is
happening in Greece today. That the community of thousands of
people is motivated to create,
first of all a chair and a program.
It shows commitment it shows the excellent partnership
between York and the Hellenic Heritage Foundation, and it I
think it promises very well for the future.
>> Thanks to the support of the
Hellenic Heritage Foundation, York is uniquely positioned to
take a big leap forward in its
relationship with the Greek community, locally and globally,
as we seek to benefit students and institutions
in both countries, and
strengthen Greek-Canadian relations and collaboration.
>> With the support of the Hellenic
Heritage Foundation, we intend to expand our relationship
with Greek universities, in terms of student exchange,
faculty exchange, joint research programs and so on.
>> The gifts from the Hellenic Heritage Foundation
are all means to an end and the end is creating an
engaged generation of Canadians who believe that they are empowered to make a
difference. Our job is to give them the equipment and the motivation and
the self-confidence to believe that they
can accomplish what they choose to accomplish.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.