Student Cultural Groups: Orange Pan-Hellenic Association

In the context of an American university, the words “Greek culture” may denote a number of things, but for the members of the Orange Pan-Hellenic Association (OPA), it means exactly that — Greek culture, including music, food, theater and, of course, language.

OPA was founded in 2011, and according to president Stephanie Leotsakos ’16, the club had only 5 core members organizing campus-wide events in the beginning. “Due to the free Greek food and desserts that were offered at many of our events (traditional dancing workshops, cooking demonstrations, cultural fairs), our club gained visibility and listserv subscriptions,” she said in an emailed statement.

The group has now expanded to include 35 active members and six officers, with 70 signed up on its listserv. Leotsakos explained that since the group hosts three weekly Modern Greek language tables (Tuesdays 6 p.m. in Forbes Dining Hall, Wednesdays 6 p.m. in Rockefeller Dining Hall and Friday 1 p.m. in Mathey Dining Hall), most of its active members are Greek or Greek-American. While most of the language table participants are native speakers, Leotsakos added that there are also enthusiastic frequenters who are invested in learning the language.

However, Leotsakos stresses that all interested in Greek language or culture are welcome. “[OPA] is open to everyone — we make our events open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff, even the local non-university community,” she said. “We maintain a separate listserv for non-student members for our events open to the public. Our larger-scale cultural events draw more non-Greeks than Greeks.”

In addition to language tables, OPA also organizes Greek concerts, incorporates a traditional dance group and participates in various cultural events on campus. For one, a Greek cooking event is in the worksfor the spring semester.

The group also organizes numerous Greek arts events. “We are very excited about an upcoming concert that we spent almost a year planning. OPA has invited renowned Greek lyricist Lina Nikolakopoulou to come to Princeton for a concert dedicated to her most enduring works on Sunday, March 1,” Leotsakos said.

Another performance arts event, a master class with Greek actress and vocalist Martha Frintzila, will be hosted on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall. “These opportunities to collaborate with talented musicians and share that with the Princeton community are particularly rewarding,” Leotsakos said.