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Hundreds Pack Fresno State For Groundbreaking Of Armenian Genocide M

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  • Hundreds Pack Fresno State For Groundbreaking Of Armenian Genocide M

    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
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