American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association

The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA, usually referred to as the Order of AHEPA) is a fraternal organization founded on July 26, 1922, in Atlanta, Georgia. AHEPA was founded with a focus on civil rights, particularly to counteract the Ku Klux Klan. It is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe.

American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association
AHEPA
Founded	July 26, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-07-26) Atlanta, Georgia, US
Type	General fraternity
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Emphasis	Greek heritage
Scope	International
Publication	The AHEPAN
Chapters	400+ active
Members	30,000+ [1] active 500,000 lifetime
Nickname	Order of AHEPA
Headquarters	1909 Q Street NW Washington, D.C. 20009 United States
Website	www.ahepa.org

The mission of AHEPA is to promote the ancient Hellenic ideals of education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, family, and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism.

History

AHEPA headquarters located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) fraternity was established in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 26, 1922.^[2] Its eight founders were residents of Atlanta who were of Greek descent, including Harry Angelopoulos, George Campbell, James Campbell, Nicholas D. Chotas, George A. Polos, Spiro J. Stamos, and James Vlass.^[2] Its initial mission was to promote the image of Greeks in America, assist them with citizenship and assimilation into American culture, and combat prejudice.^[2] At that meeting Chotas was elected its first president.^[2]

As Greek Americans assimilated into American society, AHEPA's mission shifted toward e ancient Hellenic ideals of education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, family, and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism.^[3][4] AHEPA expanded to countries in Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Cypras, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.^[5]

The mission of AHEPA is to promote the ancient Hellenic ideals of education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, family, and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism.^[3]

The AHEPA Family consists of four organizations: the AHEPA (men), Daughters of Penelope (women), Sons of Pericles (young men) and Maids of Athena (young women).^[6][7][8] AHEPA publishes The AHEPAN, which is the second largest Greek American publication in circulation. The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association also maintains ties with the similar Australasian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association.

Membership

Originally, membership was restricted to only Greeks. At its third meeting, the Order decided to change this, allowing non-Greeks to join. In 1979, AHEPA had over 25,000 members in 400 chapters.^[9] By 1989, the number climbed to 60,000, despite an overall decline in memberships of fraternal groups during this period.^[4] An estimated 500,000 men have been inducted into the Order of AHEPA over its 90-year history.^[10]

Governence

Originally, AHEPA was organized on a lodge system like that of the Masons or Oddfellows. Local units were called Subordinate Lodges and state or territory structures were called Superior Lodges. Today, it consists of the supreme lodge, districts, and chapters.

Supreme Lodge

The Supreme Lodge is the main governing body of the AHEPA. The Supreme Lodge is headquartered at 1909 Q St NW in Washington, D.C.^[11] It is elected at the Supreme Convention of the Order of AHEPA, a session including the majority of the organization's members.^[12] It consist of the following officers:^[13][9]

• Supreme President
• Supreme Vice President
• Canadian President
• Supreme Secretary
• Supreme Treasurer
• Supreme Counselor
• Supreme Athletic Director
• National Sons of Pericles Advisor
• Supreme/Regional Governor (9)

Chapters

Local groups of AHEPA are called chapters. The Supreme Lodge can charter a chapter to a group of at least ten men.^[14] The chapter's main officer positions are president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, chaplain, warden, and captain of the Guard.^[15] There have been 540 chapters chartered in the United States, 16 chartered in Canada, 30 chartered in Greece, 5 chartered in Cyprus, and 10 chartered in Europe. Over 400 chapters are active in the United States, Canada, and Europe.^[3] There are "sister" chapters in AHEPA Australasia (Australia and New Zealand).

Districts

Chapters are organized into 28 districts.^[5] Districts elect officers at annual district conventions, held in May, June, or July.^[16] District officers include district governor, lieutenant governor, district secretary, district treasurer, district marshal, district warden, and district athletic director.^[17] Current districts include:^[5]

Number	Name	Area served	References
1	Mother Dother Lodge	Georgia, Alabama, northwest Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee	[18]
2	Citrus	Florida (except northwest)	[19]
3	Capital	District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia	[20]
4	Power	Pennsylvania	[21]
5	Garden	Delaware, New Jersey	[22]
6	Empire	New York	[23]
7	Yankee	Connecticut, Rhode Island	[24]
8	Bay State	Massachusetts
9	Northern New England	Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont	[25]
10	Automotive	Michigan	[26]
11	Buckeye	Ohio, Kentucky, part of West Virginia	[27]
12	Hoosier	Indiana	[28]
13	Blue Ribbon	Illinois, Wisconsin	[29]
14	Grainsfild	Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and eastern Missouri
16	Delta	Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and western Missouri	[30]
17	Silver	Colorado, Idaho, Montana, western Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Ely, Nevada	[31]
20	El Camion Real	Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Southern California	[32]
21	Golden Gate	Northern California and Nevada (except Ely)	[33]
22	Firewood	Oregon, Washington, and Alaska	[34]
23	Beaver	Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Islands, and New Brunswick
24	Royal Canadian	Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba
25	Hellas	Greece
26	Canadian	British Columbia
27	Cyprus	Cyprus
28	European	Europe except for Cyprus and Greece
	Australia	Australia, New Zealand

Activities

Politics

AHEPA has taken a stand on the Cyprus issue since 1955 when it formed the "Justice for Cyprus" committee to support Cyprus' independence.^[9] Through the decades, the organization has continued to advocate on issues relating to Greece and Cyprus in Washington, while also educating the public about these topics.^[4]

For each Congress, AHEPA compiles a Congressional scorecard on issues of importance to the American Hellenic community and the organization. The purpose of the scorecard is to educate AHEPA's membership and the community on how engaged members of Congress are on these issues, or at the least, their level of awareness.

AHEPA Center, New York

Awards

AHEPA recognizes distinguished achievements in various categories such as public service, government, law, business, journalism, science, the arts, military service, and humanitarian. Some of its awards include the Academy of Achievement Award, AHEPAN of the Year, and the Pericles Award.^[35][36]

Socrates Award

The Socrates Award recognizes prominent men and women who have emulated ancient Hellenic ideals. This is the most prestigious award AHEPA awards and has been presented at the AHEPA National Banquet since 1964.^[37] Past recipients of the Socrates Award include:^[37]

• Henry Luce – 1964 – Publisher of Time and Life magazines
• Lyndon B. Johnson – 1966 – President of the United States of America
• Everett Dirksen – 1968 – Senator from Illinois
• Spiro T. Agnew – 1970 – Vice-president of the United States of America
• Richard M. Nixon – 1971 – President of the United States of America
• Athenagoras I of Constantinople – 1972
• United States Senate and United States House of Representatives – 1976
• Hubert H. Humphrey – 1978 – Vice-president of the United States of America
• Claiborne Pell – 1982 – Senator from Connecticut
• Bob Hope – 1984 – Entertainer
• Ronald Reagan – 1986 – President of the United States of America
• Archbishop Iakovos – 1988 – Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of North and South America
• George H. W. Bush – 1990 – President of the United States of America
• William Pagonis – 1992 – Lt. General
• Mary Matthews – 1992 – Philanthropist
• Paul Sarbanes – 1993 – Senator from Maryland
• William Clinton – 1996 – President of the United States of America
• Patriarch Bartholomew – 1997 – Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch
• George W. Bush – 2002 – President of the United States of America
• Tassos Papadopoulos – 2007 – President of Cyprus
• Costas Karamanlis – 2007 – Prime Minister of Greece
• George Kalogridis – 2014 – President Walt Disney World Resort
• Joe Biden – 2015 – Vice-president of the United States of America
• John Boehner – 2015 – Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Philip Christopher – 2019 – President of the International Co-ordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus"
• Michael Psaros – 2019 – Co-founder and Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners
• Nicos Anastasiades – 2021 – President of the Republic of Cyprus
• Kyriakos Mitsotakis – 2021 – Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic
• Panos Costa Panay – 2022 – Chief product officer of Microsoft,
• George Tsunis – 2023 – U.S. Ambassador to Greece

Athletic Hall of Fame

Each year, at the Supreme Convention, inductions are made into the AHEPA Hellenic Athletic Hall of Fame. AHEPA Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1974 to honor outstanding Hellenic athletes and sports personages.^[38]

Member	Year inducted		Member	Year inducted
Harry Agganis	1975		Alex Aronis	2000
Dee Andros	1975		George Bollas Sr.	2000
Peter Clentzos	1975		Alex G. Spanos	2000
Alex Kampouris	1975		Peter G. Stark	2000
Alex Karras	1975		Jimmie Angelopoulos	2002
Jim Londos	1975		John Critzos II	2002
Milt Pappas	1975		Charles George	2002
Pete Pihos	1975		Michael Siganos	2002
Lou Tsioropoulos	1975		Peter Angelos	2003
Gus Zarnas	1975		George Dimit	2003
Alex Grammas	1976		Jim Korfas	2003
Johnny Morris	1976		Tom Palis	2003
George Saimes	1976		Jim Carson	2004
Dr. George Kaftan	1977		Jim Daopoulos	2004
James Kekeris	1977		Nick Pappas	2004
Gus Triandos	1977		Lou Skizas	2004
Mike Castronis	1978		Mike Balitsaris	2005
William Mackrides	1978		Chris Kontos	2005
Gus Zitrides	1978		Manuel Scarmoutsos	2005
Arthur Gregory	1979		Ernie Serfas	2005
Billy Loes	1979		Anthony Loukas	2006
Anton Christoforides	1980		George Makris	2006
Gus Niarhos	1980		Carl Angelos	2007
Nick Kerasiotis	1981		George Pappas	2007
Andy Marefos	1981		Andy Sideris	2007
Chris Pelekoudas	1981		John Galaris	2009
Nick Kladis	1982		Greg Manesiotis	2009
Dr. Monthe Kofos	1982		Vasili (Billy) Pappas	2009
Archie Matsos	1982		Pete Sampras	2009
Nick Rassas	1982		Gus Constantine	2010
George Zaharias	1982		Eric Karros	2010
Ted Karras	1983		Steve Lappas	2010
John Maskas	1983		Stanley Maratos	2010
Nick Matis	1984		Art Anastopoulo	2011
Leah Poulos-Mueller	1984		Adam Archuletta	2011
Chris Farasopoulos	1985		Nick Kypreos	2011
Dr. George Poloynis	1986		Stan Spirou	2011
Nick Rodis	1986		George Theodore	2011
John Mellekas	1986		Dean Lampros	2012
Plato Andros	1987		Steve Leondis	2012
Louis Manesiotis	1987		Nick Pappageorge	2012
John Karras	1988		Tom Pappas	2012
Menil Mavraides	1988		Leonidas Tsantiris	2012
Eugene Rossides	1989		William Atessis	2013
Nickos Spanakos	1989		Nick Galis	2013
Petros Spanakos	1989		Bill Gazonas	2013
Van Nomikos	1990		Greg Louganis	2013
Peter Tountas	1990		Charles Theokas	2013
Alex Athas	1991		Peter Karmanos Jr.	2014
Bob Costas	1991		Joe Panos	2014
Louis Karras	1991		Matt Stover	2014
Archie Kodros	1991		Kirk Vidas	2014
Mike Schooles	1991		Theodore ("Ted") Leonsis	2015
Nick Conteas	1992		Christina Loukas	2015
Bill Korinthias	1992		Bob Barnek	2015
Lee Palles	1992		Paul J. Kaliades	2015
George Theodoratos	1992		Nicolette Gianulias	2016
Joe Collins	1993		Niko Koutouvides	2016
Ted Gregory	1993		John Margaritis	2016
Spiros Siaggas	1993		Steven Schubert	2016
Chris Vagotis	1993		Christos Tsiotos	2016
Al Campanis	1994		May Kotsopoulos	2017
John Diamantakos	1994		Dan Mavraides	2017
Peter Kouchalakis	1994		Nick Tsiotos	2017
John Scolinos	1994		Aleke Joy Tsoubanos	2017
Jimmy Caras	1995		Dr. James Vailas	2017
George Dales	1995		Harry Cicma	2018
James Poulos	1995		Michele Koclanes	2018
David Psaltis	1995		George Papadakos	2018
Augustus Ganakas	1996		Mark Philippoussis	2018
Dr. Tom Katsimpalis	1996		George Ravanis	2018
John Tsitouris	1996		Lt. Colonel Thomas Bellairs	2019
Paul Xanthos	1996		Valorie Kondos Field	2019
Ernest Afaganis	1997		Peter Laskaris	2019
Phil Bouzeos	1997		Adam Rand	2019
John Pachivas Sr.	1997		George Veras	2019
Lou Tsipis	1997		George John	2020
Nick Sacrinty	1998		Stamos Mazarakis	2020
Robert Samaras	1998		Eleni Rossides	2020
Fred Smerlas	1998		Christopher Soukas	2020
Leo Thalassites	1998		Marcos Baghdatis	2021
George Catavolos	1999		Speros Dedes	2021
Art Demmas	1999		Pyrros Dimas	2021
Tom Laris	1999		Emmanuel Pihakis	2021
Diana Nyad	1999		Kurt Rambis	2021
Stella Sampras-Webster	2021		Alex Anthopoulos	2022
Jim Karsatos	2022		Nick Markakis	2022
Tony Pashos	2022		Nick Voris	2022
Samantha Prahalis	2022		George Kokinis	2023
George Kostelis	2023		Alexi Lalas	2023
Nick Mourouzis	2023		Kristofer O'Dowd	2023
Jason Zafiros	2023

Harry Agganis Award

The Harry Agganis Hellenic Athlete Award is awarded annually to the outstanding Hellene in the field of athletics professional or amateur of college level and above.^[39]

Year	Award winner	Sport		Year	Award winner	Sport
1955	Alex Aronis	Football		1990	Pete Sampras	Tennis
1956	George Spanes	Football		1991	Karen Choppelas Horstmeyer	Basketball coach
1957	Alex Karras	Football		1992	Steve Lappas	NCAA basketball coach
1958	Lou Tsiriopoulos	Basketball		1993	Chris Kontos	Hockey
1959	Gus Triandos	Baseball		1994	Alkis Panagoulis	Soccer coach
1960	Milt Pappas	Baseball		1995	John Mitsopoulos	Weight lifting
1961	Chris Pelekoudas	Baseball umpire		1996	Peter Karmanos Jr.	Hockey
1962	Alex Grammas	Baseball		1997	Spiros Siaggas	AHEPA athletics
1963	George Saimes	Football		1998	Peter Clentzos	Olympic pole vaulter
1964	NONE	NONE		1999	James Daopoulos	NFL Super Bowl Referee
1965	Chris Pelekoudas	Baseball umpire		2000	John Korfas	Basketball
1966	Peter Tountas	Bowling		2001	Matt Stover	Football
1967	Dee Andros	Football		2002	None	None
1968	None	None		2003	None	None
1969	Angelo Loukas	Football		2004	Tom Pappas	Decathlon
1970	George Allen	Track		2005	NONE	NONE
1971	George Pappas	Bowling		2006	NONE	NONE
1972	Gus Ganakas	Basketball		2007	NONE	NONE
1973	Chris Farasopoulos	Football		2008	None	None
1974	Alex Strike	World Judo Champ		2009	Nick Markakis	Baseball
1975	Leah Poulos	Olympic Speed Skater		2010	George John	Soccer
1976	NONE	NONE		2011	Dan Mavraides	Basketball
1977	John Scolinos	Baseball Coach		2012	William Vlachos	Rimington Finalist
1978	NONE	NONE		2013	Niko Koutouvides	Football
1979	Alec Campanis	L.A. Dodgers GM		2014	Kostas Koufos	Basketball
1980	Lee Palles	Decathlon		2015	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Basketball
1981	Fred Smerlas	Football		2016	Mike Moustakas	Baseball
1982	Art Demmas	NFL Referee		2017	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Basketball
1983	Greg Louganis	Olympic Diving		2018	Dean Karnazes	Ultra-Marathoner Runner
1984	Mike Castronis	NCAA Football Coach		2019	Cody Bellinger	Baseball
1985	Greg Louganis	Olympic Diving		2020	Stefanos Tsitsipas	Tennis
1986	Peter Dalis	UCLA Athletic Director		2021	Ted Karras	Football
1987	Greg Tafralis	Track		2022	Jordan Kyrou	Hockey
1988	Tom Patsalis	Track		2023	Maria Sakkari	Tennis
1989	Chris Chelios	Hockey		2024

Notable members

• Dean Alfange, Deputy New York State Attorney General
• James P. Axiotis, film and television producer, director, and writer
• George Demeter (Boston) Massachusetts House of Representatives and parliamentarian
• Leo Housakos, Speaker of the Senate of Canada
• Charles Moskos, sociologist and a professor at Northwestern University
• Nik Nanos, public opinion pollster, entrepreneur, public speaker, author
• Tom Pentefountas, vice-chair of Broadcasting of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and president of the National Executive Committee of Action démocratique du Québec
• Franklin D. Roosevelt (Delphi, 1931), President of the United States, Governor of New York, and New York State Senate^[40]
• Nick Theodore, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, South Carolina Senate, and South Carolina House of Representatives
• Russell Wilson, mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio and a founder of Sigma Sigma honor society

See also

• AHEPA University Hospital
• List of North American ethnic and religious fraternal orders
• List of ethnic organizations in the United States
• List of general fraternities

References

1. "How to Plan A Successful AHEPA Day Program" (PDF). AHEPA. May 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
2. Leber, George J. (1972). History of the Order of AHEPA 1922 - 1972. Washington, D.C.: Order of AHEPA. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
3. AHEPA website ahepa.org
4. Alan Axelrod, International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, New York: Facts on File, 1997, pp.4-5
5. "District Governors". The Order of AHEPA. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
6. "Home". Daughters of Penelope. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
7. "About Us". Sons of Pericles. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
8. "About". Maids of Athena. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
9. Schmidt, Alvin J. Fraternal Organizations. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1980. pp. 23 and 25. ISBN 9780313214363
10. AHEPA membership fact sheet via AHEPA HQ in Washington, DC
11. "Contact Us". The Order of AHEPA. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
12. AHEPA Constitution 2013; Article 13
13. "Supreme Lodge". The Order of AHEPA. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
14. AHEPA Constitution 2013; Article 8
15. AHEPA Constitution 2013; Article 9
16. AHEPA Constitution 2013; Article 11
17. AHEPA Constitution 2013; Article 12
18. "AHEPA District 1". AHEPA District 1. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
19. "Chapter Directory". AHEPA District 2. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
20. "Chapter Directory". AHEPA District 3. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
21. "Chapters". AHEPA District 4. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
22. "Chapters - New Jersey & Delaware". AHEPA District 5. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
23. "Chapters". AHEPA District 6. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
24. "Yankee District 7 Chapters". AHEPA District 7. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
25. "Welcome To AHEPA - District 9". AHEPA District 9. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
26. "Find My Chapter". AHEPA District 10. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
27. "History of the Buckeye | AHEPA Buckeye District #11". Retrieved 2024-10-26.
28. "Chapters". AHEPA Hoosier District 12. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
29. "Chapters". AHEPA District 13. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
30. "Chapters". AHEPA Region 16. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
31. "Home". AHEPA District 17. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
32. "Home". AHEPA District 20. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
33. "Chapters". AHEPA District 21. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
34. "Firwood District - Home Page". AHEPA District 22. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
35. "Archive". The Order of AHEPA. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
36. "AHEPA Presents Cardin with 2023 Pericles Award – The Order of AHEPA". Retrieved 2024-10-26.
37. Leber, George J. (1972). "AHEPA Socratic / Socrates Award". History of the Order of AHEPA 1922 - 1972. Washington, D.C.: Order of AHEPA. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
38. "Athletics". The Order of AHEPA. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
39. Order of AHEPA 90th Anniversary 1922-2012, 2012 AHEPA Family Album, 90th Supreme Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 22–27, 2012
40. Conversations with F.D.R. at his AHEPA Initiation: Frigates, Battleships, Espionage and a Sentimental Bond with Greece, by Leonidas V. Georgiou, New York: Knollwood Press, 2019. Available through AbeBooks.com.

External links

• Official website
• History of the Order of AHEPA