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HUNDREDS PACK FRESNO STATE FOR GROUNDBREAKING OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT
Fresno Bee, California
Nov 3 2014
By Rory Appleton
Hundreds of people packed a small outdoor ceremony at Fresno State
to mark the start of construction of the Armenian Genocide Monument,
which will be completed in time to mark next year's 100th anniversary
of the genocide.
Leaders of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church and Armenian
Genocide Centennial Committee, Fresno joined local politicians, Fresno
State leaders and throngs of community members at the event. The
university set out 40 chairs, but a couple hundred spectators crammed
around the site where the monument will be built.
Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro spoke for the university.
"Our primary mission (at Fresno State) is education, which is also
at the core of this project," Castro said. "We've had a rich history
of involvement by Armenian students, faculty, alumni and friends --
we wouldn't be a great university without them."
The primary message of the event was the importance of spreading
awareness of the Armenian Genocide, which Fresno State Armenian Studies
Coordinator Barlow Der Mugrdechian said killed as many as 1.5 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1923. Der Mugrdechian said that on April 24,
1915, the Ottoman Turkish government began arresting and executing
hundreds of Armenian religious, academic and political leaders.
The stone-and-concrete monument will be dedicated on April 24, the
100th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide. It was designed
by local architect Paul Halajian and will consist of nine pillars
representing the six provinces of historic Armenia, Cilicia, the
Diaspora and the Republic of Armenia. An incomplete halo will rest on
top of the pillars, which is meant to symbolize both the damage left
by the genocide and the unity of the Armenian people. It will be the
first such monument marking the genocide on a U.S. college campus.
It will be located on the Maple Mall walkway just south of the
Satellite Student Union on Fresno State's campus. Fresno State Vice
President for Administration Cynthia Teniente-Matson said this prime
location will allow every single Fresno State student to see and
learn from the monument.
After the leaders addressed the public, bishops from the Armenian
Church and local religious leaders performed a spirited ceremony, in
English and Armenian, to bless soil taken from the Republic of Armenia.
Two Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School students, 11-year-old
Zareh Apkarian and 10-year-old Sevana Vassilian, carried the blessed
soil to the groundbreaking point, where they poured it in with the
native earth. The soil is meant to represent Armenia on the Fresno
State campus.
Levon Minasyan, a representative from the Armenian Consulate in Los
Angeles, offered his gratitude to Fresno State and the local Armenian
community.
"The establishment of this monument in Fresno on the threshold of the
centennial of the Armenian genocide is evidence of the Fresno Armenian
community's important role in Armenian-American life," Minasyan said.
Minasyan went on to say that the international recognition and
condemnation of the first genocide of the 20th century has been a top
priority of Armenian foreign policy for almost two decades. Minasyan
told the crowd that, although many states and nations have officially
recognized the genocide, this work will continue.
The recognition of the genocide was a central theme of the event,
with many of the speakers making reference to those massacred and the
lack of recognition of the genocide from countries such as Turkey and
the United States. Among the speakers were Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno,
and Assembly Member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno.
Members of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, Fresno were
recognized during the ceremony for what Der Mugrdechian called their
tireless efforts over the past year to find a way to honor the 100th
anniversary of the genocide.
The committee is an umbrella association made up of members from the
Valley's religious, educational, social and political organizations.
Castro said the monument will be one of only about 30 Armenian Genocide
monuments in the United States.
Der Mugrdechian hopes the monument will help heal the wounds of the
genocide while also spreading a message.
"We are witnessing a new period in our history," Der Mugrdechian said.
"This will be a visual monument to show our spirit."
http://www.fresnobee.com/welcome_page/?shf=/2014/11/02/4213024_hundreds-pack-fresno-state-for.html
From: A. Papazian
Fresno Bee, California
Nov 3 2014
By Rory Appleton
Hundreds of people packed a small outdoor ceremony at Fresno State
to mark the start of construction of the Armenian Genocide Monument,
which will be completed in time to mark next year's 100th anniversary
of the genocide.
Leaders of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church and Armenian
Genocide Centennial Committee, Fresno joined local politicians, Fresno
State leaders and throngs of community members at the event. The
university set out 40 chairs, but a couple hundred spectators crammed
around the site where the monument will be built.
Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro spoke for the university.
"Our primary mission (at Fresno State) is education, which is also
at the core of this project," Castro said. "We've had a rich history
of involvement by Armenian students, faculty, alumni and friends --
we wouldn't be a great university without them."
The primary message of the event was the importance of spreading
awareness of the Armenian Genocide, which Fresno State Armenian Studies
Coordinator Barlow Der Mugrdechian said killed as many as 1.5 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1923. Der Mugrdechian said that on April 24,
1915, the Ottoman Turkish government began arresting and executing
hundreds of Armenian religious, academic and political leaders.
The stone-and-concrete monument will be dedicated on April 24, the
100th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide. It was designed
by local architect Paul Halajian and will consist of nine pillars
representing the six provinces of historic Armenia, Cilicia, the
Diaspora and the Republic of Armenia. An incomplete halo will rest on
top of the pillars, which is meant to symbolize both the damage left
by the genocide and the unity of the Armenian people. It will be the
first such monument marking the genocide on a U.S. college campus.
It will be located on the Maple Mall walkway just south of the
Satellite Student Union on Fresno State's campus. Fresno State Vice
President for Administration Cynthia Teniente-Matson said this prime
location will allow every single Fresno State student to see and
learn from the monument.
After the leaders addressed the public, bishops from the Armenian
Church and local religious leaders performed a spirited ceremony, in
English and Armenian, to bless soil taken from the Republic of Armenia.
Two Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School students, 11-year-old
Zareh Apkarian and 10-year-old Sevana Vassilian, carried the blessed
soil to the groundbreaking point, where they poured it in with the
native earth. The soil is meant to represent Armenia on the Fresno
State campus.
Levon Minasyan, a representative from the Armenian Consulate in Los
Angeles, offered his gratitude to Fresno State and the local Armenian
community.
"The establishment of this monument in Fresno on the threshold of the
centennial of the Armenian genocide is evidence of the Fresno Armenian
community's important role in Armenian-American life," Minasyan said.
Minasyan went on to say that the international recognition and
condemnation of the first genocide of the 20th century has been a top
priority of Armenian foreign policy for almost two decades. Minasyan
told the crowd that, although many states and nations have officially
recognized the genocide, this work will continue.
The recognition of the genocide was a central theme of the event,
with many of the speakers making reference to those massacred and the
lack of recognition of the genocide from countries such as Turkey and
the United States. Among the speakers were Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno,
and Assembly Member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno.
Members of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, Fresno were
recognized during the ceremony for what Der Mugrdechian called their
tireless efforts over the past year to find a way to honor the 100th
anniversary of the genocide.
The committee is an umbrella association made up of members from the
Valley's religious, educational, social and political organizations.
Castro said the monument will be one of only about 30 Armenian Genocide
monuments in the United States.
Der Mugrdechian hopes the monument will help heal the wounds of the
genocide while also spreading a message.
"We are witnessing a new period in our history," Der Mugrdechian said.
"This will be a visual monument to show our spirit."
http://www.fresnobee.com/welcome_page/?shf=/2014/11/02/4213024_hundreds-pack-fresno-state-for.html
From: A. Papazian