NEEDED: A HELLENIC CULTURAL CENTER IN SAN FRANCISCO

by Professor Michael C. Geokas

November 23, 1997 Published: The National Herald December 13/14,1997.


INTRODUCTION

Hellas is the birthplace of Democracy and of Western Culture and as such it has a lot to offer to our society. However, the Hellenic ideals are somewhat obscured by the spectacles of technology, by excessive materialism and consumerism and by the fierce economic competition among modern societies. Despite all this, the Hellenic ideals and Hellenic Culture have come into a sharp focus, after the fall of Communism, and Democracy is now hailed with new vigor, as the best system of Government. Thus, the Hellenic Cultural Heritage can be a rich source of inspiration, as a strong and veritable intellectual and spiritual fountain, for all Americans in Northern California.

A Hellenic Cultural Center (HCC), similar to those in other parts of the country, will increase the cohesion and solidify the bonds in our Community, especially among our young. This is why we urgently need a HCC in the San Francisco Bay Area. The development of such a Center by the Community of Americans who share a Hellenic ancestry or are Philhellenes, will be especially significant by its mere location within one of the most sophisticated areas in the United States, characterized by a large number of outstanding Universities, Colleges and other Institutions of scholarship, as well as by an unprecedented number of Nobel Laureates. The Hellenic American Community here is thriving, with over thirty organizations most of who are under the umbrella of UHAS (United Hellenic American Societies of Northern California).

The San Francisco Bay Area should become a very fertile laboratory for the renewal and the dissemination of ideals of proven value through the Centuries of Human experience: The Hellenic Ideals.

RATIONALE: WHY DO WE NEED A HCC?

A HCC in the San Francisco Bay Area is long overdue and there is nothing else at present that can take its place. The Center is envisaged as the focus of:

-Cultural

-Theatrical

-Musical

-Educational (Lectures, Seminars, Conferences on Hellenic Issues)

-Artistic

-Scientific

-Archeological (Exhibits of Antiquities from Greece)

-Fund Raising events and,

-Other Community activities

Most of these activities cannot be hosted at any of the existing facilities, such as our thriving and well-endowed Greek-Orthodox Churches/Cathedrals.

The reason is this: As tax-exempt Institutions of Religious worship, our Churches and Cathedrals, are under the well known restrictions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRS Code) concerning their functions as Non-Profit, Tax-exempt entities.

For instance, we cannot invite prominent Politicians, Journalists, or Academicians to discuss important National and International topics, such as: Political, Territorial and other contemporary issues of dispute, concerning the Greek Nation and Hellenism in general, without jeopardizing the Non-Profit, Tax-exempt status of our Churches. At present, the only place that such issues can be discussed and debated is in Restaurants and Hotels which is very inappropriate.

Additionally, it is my understanding that, the new and vigorous mandate of Archbishop Spyridon, is apparently, to devote the energies of our beloved Church mainly to Religious and Pastoral-Educational activities and to stay away from National-political issues concerning Hellas and Hellenism worldwide.

Thus, a HCC is necessary and it can be a fountain of activity involving all our Community, but especially our young, for whom the benefits will be immense.

We live into a marvelous and diverse experimental society, among people coming from many cultures and there is a great need for our Hellenic Heritage, to hold its own, to be assertive and to contribute generously to our young and this great society of ours.

Thus, the present lack of a HCC is an enormous weakness of our Community and is extremely unfair to all young Greek-Americans (many of them the offsprings of mixed marriages), who are deprived of Cultural and Intellectual activities, based on our enormous Hellenic Cultural and Humanistic Heritage.

In this day and age of powerful homogenizing forces and of strong modernizing imperatives in all Western Societies, including our own, there is a dire need for us to maintain and disseminate our unique Hellenic Ideals, for the good of our young and the good of our Community and our Society at large. CULTURE ABHORS A VACUUM, AND IF OUR HELLENIC CULTURE IS WEAK AND ANEMIC, OTHER CULTURES WILL STEP IN AND DOMINATE THE ARENA, AND OUR YOUNG WILL BE THE LOSERS.

ACTION

A powerful Committee should be formed, leading into a strong "Task Force," in order to make plans and to promulgate the various steps for the development of the HCC in the San Francisco Bay Area. This laudable undertaking should involve from the start, the entire Community of Americans of Hellenic ancestry and Philhellenes, in Northern California.

This should be a unifying project for and by the entire Community. The HCC will be the unifying link for all Americans of Hellenic Origin and for all Philhellenes in our area, and should not be a project for personal aggrandizement or for Community politics and rivalries. The HCC should be an endeavor for all people and will be built and maintained by the entire Community.

IF SOMEONE WISHES TO CONTRIBUTE IN A GRAND SCALE HE/SHE SHOULD BE WELCOMED AND DUE RECOGNITION SHOULD BE GIVEN FOR THE CONTRIBUTION.

The necessary funds for the Center could be secured by applying modern techniques for fund raising, such as little money from a lot of people, substantial donations from a number of individuals and sizable amounts from a few wealthy donors, within and outside the United States.

SUGGESTED STEPS:

1. Development of a Committee leading into a powerful Task Force by the recruiting of additional dedicated and active members.

2. Development of a comprehensive Pamphlet explaining the purpose, the dynamics and the methodology for achieving the goal.

3. The establishment and finalization of all legalities pertaining to the task in question, by consulting an expert Attorney from the start.

4. Seeking of professional advise concerning the crucial area of Fund Raising.

5. The identification of a rented temporary Cultural Center, for Cultural Activities and for Fund-Raising events.

IN SUMMARY: The need for a HCC in the San Francisco Bay Area is so blatantly obvious that it does not require justification for any reasonable person. For those who disagree and believe otherwise, I suggest that they should sit down and put in writing their reasons, for depriving our young of a fountain of Hellenic Culture and History, within the highly sophisticated San Francisco Bay Area.

I wish to hear the reasons why the arena should be left to all other thriving Ethnic Minorities to occupy, and the justification why we, the Hellene-Americans, should keep silent about our enormous Heritage and magnificent Culture, in this era of information explosion.

The United Hellenic-American Society of Northern California (UHAS) in collaboration with key individuals, could be the spearhead for the development of this HCC. Fund raising could involve sources within and outside California.

Finally, I wish to emphasize that this task will require a great deal of preliminary work, such as: strategic planning, lively debate and the obtaining of expert advise. This should be pursued by the Task Force mentioned above. The opinions and the assistance of prominent Hellene Americans in the Bay Area, should also be solicited in order to achieve wide consensus.

UHAS should develop an army of supporters (a constituency) for this project. Also, the members of its constituent organizations must be convinced about the great need for a HCC. This is called grassroots support, which if successful will eventually become an avalanche.

However, first and foremost the image of UHAS has to be greatly invigorated, with activities beyond the celebrations of the 28th of October and 25th of March, in order to increase its visibility and boost its impact and credibility, within our Community. This is no time for trial balloons or for sponsoring initiatives with no possibility of success. Instead, this is the time for a lot of non-glamorous painstaking work, without obvious rewards and without ego satisfaction or self-promotion for certain individuals. Only with such an unselfish approach, we shall increase our chances of success in achieving our goal: a HCC in the San Francisco Bay area.