The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (PAOI) is a member of the Graduate Theological Union, an ecumenical and interfaith consortium of nine independent seminaries and ten affiliated centers based in Berkeley, California. The Institute is a unique, independent, not-for-profit teaching and research institution. The PAOI exists to educate, communicate, promote and sustain the traditions, values, teachings and culture of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It is the only independent and permanently endowed Orthodox educational center with a physical presence at a North American university.