On Saturday afternoon, about a hundred students, alumni and friends of the University gathered at the corner of Second and John streets to celebrate the opening of the country’s first Orthodox Christian student living center.

“We have been working on getting this done for 15 years and very intensely for the past five years,” said Father George Pyle, who helped Orthodox students to find and organize the house. “We felt that Orthodox students needed a place where they could lead a full Christian lifestyle. We fast and pray at different times than some other religions, and college is a good time to influence students who are growing not only intellectually but also spiritually.”

His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of the Chicago Diocese, as well as state Sen. Richard Winkel (R-Champaign), Champaign Mayor Gerald Schweighart and associate dean of students Ruth McCauley all spoke to the crowd of alumni, who had helped fund the center, as well as students at the door-opening ceremony on Saturday.

“This is a great accomplishment for the students and alumni of this great University,” Iakovos said. “This house will help show what our faith, culture and tradition can offer. I am pleased at what has already been done and hope that this will be a good beginning.”

The living center can house up to 18 students, although only seven are currently living there. It is open to both males and females, and it already houses a chapel in its basement. Pyle said that as time goes on, he would like to improve the chapel and build a library.

The living center was formerly the senior house for a fraternity. The landlord closed a deal with the Orthodox Christian Fellowship in the late spring, and Orthodox students have been helping clean and refurbish it all summer.

Nicholas Poteres, sophomore in LAS, was the first to move into the house a week before school started. Poteres spent many hours over the summer cleaning and getting the house ready to live in, but said that it has been worth all of his efforts.

“It feels a lot more like living in a family than living at college,” Poteres said. “It’s not like a fraternity where we have to sit and divide up chores – everyone just does things so that they don’t disappoint the others living in the house. It’s also really nice to have something in common with everyone you’re living with.”

Saju Varghese, president of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship and junior in LAS, gave a speech at the ceremony, saying he felt that the house was organized through the grace of God.

“I’ve just stepped into the situation,” Varghese said. “And things just continue to move along smoothly. I pray that things will continue this way, by the grace of God.”