Fordham University’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center is set to relocate to an official, permanent location, which is currently undergoing renovation, and is situated across from Faculty Memorial Hall.
The mission of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center is to incorporate Orthodox traditions and history into Fordham. According to Fordham’s website, “the Center supports a multitude of research initiatives, publications, lectures, and a thriving undergraduate minor in Orthodox Christian Studies.”
The Center was founded in 2012 by its co-directors George Demacopoulos and Aristotle Papanikolaou. The reconstruction and restoration of the buildings on Belmont Ave. will be the first dedicated physical space for the center since its founding, as it has previously existed in other university buildings.
The renovated building will have an Orthodox chapel, staff offices, a student lounge, meeting spaces, living accommodations for graduate students and visiting scholars and a backyard for community gatherings, according to Sergei Chapnin, director of communications for the center.
When asked why the center required a dedicated space, Chapnin said that, “after operating for 20 years without its own space, the Center requires a dedicated facility to accommodate its growing programs, which include an undergraduate minor, research initiatives, publications, lectures and the Annual Orthodoxy in America Lecture series.”
According to Chapnin, the new building will provide a much-needed dedicated space that will allow for a better experience for those working in the center, as well as a place to host events specific to the center.
“The new facility will enable the Center to expand its capacity for hosting visiting scholars, enhance student engagement through the dedicated lounge and meeting spaces, and strengthen its role as a hub for Orthodox Christian intellectual life at Fordham,” Chapnin said. “The chapel will provide a proper liturgical space for the Orthodox community on campus, something that has been absent despite Fordham’s long relationship with Orthodox Christianity dating back to Fr. John Meyendorff’s tenure (1967-1992).”
Many students may have already noticed changes to the Belmont Ave. property in preparation for the building’s renovation. Notably, a banner has been placed over the building’s natural exterior, labeling it as the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.
Director of University Facilities Planning and Programming Steven Stainbrook shared details on the project with The Fordham Ram over email. According to Stainbrook, the Center’s physical space has been in the works for over three years and has undergone rigorous review since the fall of 2023.
When asked about the banner, Stainbrook said that “the banner was an outgrowth of early planning and design, which includes restoration of the 2535 and 2537 Belmont Avenue properties…the file was printed and installed by VSL Print and attached to the building with minimal points of contact.”
Stainbrook also commented on the temporality of the banner. “The banner printing and installation was minimal cost and is the same material you see at construction sites, covering fencing or at tennis courts used as windscreens. Once construction begins on the project, the scrim will be removed,” he said.
When asked about the interior of the building, Stainbrook outlined changes that would be made there as well. “The interior of the two properties will be joined and converted into one facility,” he said. “Current plans are to accommodate a chapel, research center, lounge, and space for students and staff. The renovated facility and its retrofitted backyard will host events that actively promote ecumenical dialogue and relations with Roman Catholicism.”
The building remodeling is scheduled to be completed between late 2027 and early 2028.
