Moment of Reflection: Local Armenian Students’ Associations (ASA) Work Towards Common Cause

By NUNE ALAVERDYAN
nalaverd@uci.edu

As another school year comes to a close, it becomes apparent that the commitment of Armenian students to their heritage is only growing stronger. The Armenian Students’ Associations of California colleges and universities are flourishing and upholding the dedication to Armenia shown in previous years. Their accomplishments this year are highlighted below.

UC San Diego: San Diego’s ASA organized a Genocide Commemoration week from April 19-23rd, which culminated in an event hosted by UCSD ASA, AGA, AEO and St. Garabed Armenian Church. Speakers that evening included Mark Geragos, Congressman Bob Filner’s representative Willie Blair, Professor of Sociology Gershon Shafir, and UCSD alumnus Nicholas Vartanian, who now works for Mayor Villaraigosa. UCSD is currently planning a fundraiser to send computers to a school in Hrazdan.

PCC: With the help of Camp Darfur, PCC’s ASA held its first ever Genocide Week this year. The four-day event began with a day dedicated to recalling Armenian history. The next two days were spent spreading awareness about the Armenian Genocide and educating students about other genocides. The final day honored famous Armenians around the world and focused on the current events going on in Armenia. They celebrated Armenia’s survival with kabob!

UC Berkeley: Even with their small Armenian community, Berkeley’s ASA managed to fundraise the most money from any ASA in the nation for this year’s ArmeniaFund Telethon. They donated $2,700 to the telethon, money raised at a poker tournament held in Berkeley. During their Genocide Week, they presented and passed a bill to the ASUC Senate that recognized the Armenian Genocide and designated April 24 as Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day at Berkeley. Aside from raising campus awareness for the Telethon, the UC Berkeley ASA also put on a series of week-long events in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. A Memorial was made, for which members of the ASA and campus community stood guard for 24 hours a day for an entire week. The week-long events consisted of numerous lecture speakers, including Micheal Bobelian, author of Children of Armenia. They also held an awareness concert by rapper sensation R-MEAN, a movie screening of “The Lark Farm,” and also participated in a march on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, for awareness.

UC Irvine: Throughout this school year, 5th year Aleksan Giragosian gave a series of compelling lectures at Irvine ASA meetings that educated his peers in Armenian politics, history, religion, and culture. Irvine’s ASA also put together care packages to be sent to an orphanage in Armenia. This year’s Armenian Genocide Commemoration included the participation of students from Ari Giragos Armenian Elementary School and Homenetmen Scouts, and moving speeches and performances by Irvine students.

UC Riverside: Aside from hosting various social events, such as bowling nights, Riverside’s ASA also held a Genocide Week. The week included a hunger strike, a screening of the movie “I Hate Dogs,” and a candlelight vigil. They tabled everyday to spread awareness about the Genocide.

UC Santa Barbara: One of the main accomplishments of Santa Barbara’s ASA this year has been raising awareness about problems in Armenia. Together with Act for Armenia, ASA worked to raise awareness about the conditions of rural Armenian villages. Vice President Nanor Balabanian put together a short documentary available on Youtube called “Act for Armenia - The Hidden Road,” which focuses on helping the small village of Aghbradzor. Fundraising ranged anywhere from bake sales to taking in donations to selling bracelets, all to send aid to the schools and students of Armenian villages.

GCC: Guest speaker Armine Kondakjian recently gave a lecture to GCC’s ASA regarding the condition of Armenians in the Soviet Union. She spoke of the migration of Armenians into the Soviet Union after WWII and the repression of Armenian repatriates during Stalin’s reign. She is completing a book on the topic of Soviet Union Armenians and shared her research experiences with the students as well.

UC Los Angeles: UCLA ASA commemorated the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with a performance by Asplinter, poetry recitations by member of AGA, and a speech by the founder of the Armin T. Wegner Society. Their social events this quarter included club parties and an annual banquet held at Palladio. Most recently, they held an open mic night with performances by Asplinter, Sarkistic, Raffi, Manda Paul, Goharik, and Emin.