By Anonymous
The 2021 annual budget of Hellenic College/Holy Cross (HCHC) is $ 11,083,038.00, with a reported deficit of $ 512,138.00. There are good reasons to believe that the alleged deficit was framed to justify the six tenured professors’ arbitrary firing.
HCHC, according to the budget received from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, an additional $2,000.000.00, bringing the Archdiocese’s total annual contribution to $3,500.000. 00. HCHC also received a very generous gift of $2,600.000.00 million from the Estate of George Hays. A donor of a $1.3 million grant to the previously planned student center also agreed to repurpose his contribution toward School’s operating expenses for the next three years. Furthermore, on January 11, 2020, the prime minister of Greece and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees Archbishop Elpidophoros jointly announced in the media that the Government of Greece would annually contribute two million Euros to HCHC beginning with the year 2019 in support of its survival, programs, and advancement. On Friday, October 23, 2020, the Ambassador of Greece visited Hellenic College and delivered the Greek Government’s contribution of 2, 000.000.00 Euros for the year 2019 with another 2,000.000.00 coming for the year 2020.
After today’s contribution of the Greek Government, HCHC is not justified to claim financial exigency since its financial budget for 2021 will have a surplus of more than $1,852.476.00. The excess is much greater if we add the salaries of the fired six tenured professors. Was the declaration of financial exigency an act of necessity since Hellenic College had the highest assurance from the Greek Government (Prime Minister) that it will receive from them a $2,000.000.00 for its survival and advancement? It seems that financial exigency was a pretext story for dismissed senior tenured professors.
