The National Hellenic Society (NHS), an association of Greek American leaders, visionaries, and philanthropists is gearing up for its annual Heritage Weekend to be held in Nashville, Tennessee on October 10-13, 2024.
The Heritage Weekend is an opportunity for prominent Greek Americans and philhellenes to get together to celebrate, but also to learn and educate. Panels and speakers on a variety of different topics are scheduled. Future programming and events that the NHS wants to accomplish are also discussed.
NHS Heritage Weekend to highlight Parthenon Marbles
Drake Behrakis, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NHS, told Greek Reporter that there was a strong symbolism that the organization chose Nashville as the location for this year’s Heritage Weekend.
“Nashville, as you may know, has an exact replica of the Parthenon. We felt the theme for this year should be on the bringing back of the marvels back to Greece. We have a variety of speakers that are talking about that, as well as one of our honorees has taken it upon himself to bring visibility to the world regarding the issue.”
The speaker and honoree who feels passionate about the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece is American songwriter and producer Desmond Child, who recently held a concert in Greece in support of the cause.
Child, who emigrated from Cuba at an early age, espoused the campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, as it resonated with a personal story, Behrakis said.
His mother had to sell a lot of things that she owned to help the family live and survive in the US. She had this statue, this family statue from Cuba. that she took a lot of pride in. Unfortunately, she had to sell it. Desmond Child remembers after she sold it how, depressed and sad she was. And he made it a point in his life to buy that statue back for his mother, which he ended up doing.
“During his travels around the world, he learned about the story of the Parthenon Marbles. As he came to Greece, he learned more and more about the passion that people had and the story behind how the marbles were taken. He took the story to heart and decided he wanted to do something about it,” Behrakis said and added that the American songwriter plans another concert in Greece and a concert in London to bring visibility and awareness.
The NHS Chair told Greek Reporter that another honoree at the Heritage Weekend will be Peter Parthenis Sr., a longtime member of the organization, who founded Grecian Delight Inc., a company destined to change the American food industry.
Greek-American actress Melina Kanakiridis would be the third person honored. “She is very dedicated to her profession and demonstrates a very strong support and love of her homeland, Greece,” Behrakis said.
NHS Heritage Greece
The core program of NHS is the Heritage Greece Program, a two-week cultural and educational immersion odyssey for accomplished Greek American college students who share their experiences with a peer group of exceptional students from the American College of Greece (ACG) in Athens, or the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) in Thessaloniki.
In the summer of 2024, 125 students took the opportunity to visit the land of their ancestors.
“We’ve always had the idea that there’s so many Greek-Americans in different generations, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth generation, that don’t have a close tie to Greece, and so what we’ve tried to do with this program is allow those students to, for many, go to Greece for the first time, explore why it’s an important part of their heritage,” Behrakis told Greek Reporter.
The program which runs for 15 years is expanding as new partnerships are sought. “One area we’re exploring is the Study in Greece initiative. We are looking at how Greek-American students can participate in more formal programs offered by Greek higher education institutions during the summer.”
Behrakis highlighted the importance of bringing young Greek-Americans in touch with their Greek counterparts.
“The students that go to Greece, they spend time with Greek students so they get to learn what life in Greece is all about… Bringing together young Greek professionals from all over the world is creating a bridge in the homeland that’s going to pay dividends 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the road. These are students today, but they’re going to be our future leaders in government and business and nonprofits,” Behrakis noted.
“Students learn about the Greek DNA which includes concepts such as philoxenia and philotimo.”
He said that the NHS Heritage Greece program also offers time for enjoying ancient sites, Greek culture, nightlife, and beach life.
The program is a gift from the NHS to the participants who participate in one of the two groups (ACG or ACT). The students bear airfare costs to and from Athens and all other expenses for tuition, accommodations, meals, transportation within Greece, and related costs are borne by the NHS. Students learn language skills within the context of modern Greece, travel to important archaeological sites and earn one fully transferable credit hour.
NHS is actively supporting programs sponsored by universities, colleges and educational institutions throughout the US that demonstrate a common interest in preserving, promoting and enjoying for posterity, education, the sciences, arts, music, culture, history, philosophy, democracy and related legacies derived from and through the ancient Hellenic era to the present.
Related: Drake and Maria Behrakis Promote Greek Education in the US
