1987_02 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper February 1987

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ARMENIAN   ACTION
Volume 8, No. 2        The newspaper of the California State University, Fresno Armenian Students
FEBRUARY 1987      Organization and Armenian Studies Program
Armenian Studies Program
CSUF, Fresno 93740
The Daily Collegian
Non-profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 262
ASP ENDOWED CHAIR DRIVE SET
FUND OFF TO SUCCESSFUL START
i
The California State University, Fresno
1 Armenian Studies Program announces the
opening of a campaign to establish an
Endowed Chair in Armenian Studies in the
School of Social Sciences. The goal is to
raise $300,000 to endow the position and
enable the university to undertake an
international search for the best candidate
ij to fill the new position.
The exciting news was announced by
Armenian Studies Program Director Dr.
Dickran Kouymjian at the tenth anniversary banquet for the Armenian Studies
Program held on 27 October  1986.  As  a
_MM_
first step in the fund drive the president of
the National Institute for Armenian Culture, Mrs. Anoush Chamlian announced a
$5,000 pledge from the organization.
Additional pledges were made by the CSU
Fresno Armenian Students Organization,
the Armenian Alumni Association and the
Armenian National Committe of Fresno.
Within weeks of the announcement of the
endowment drive, Mr. and Mrs. Arnie
Avedian of Fresno donated $15,000, adding new impetus to the campaign.
University     officials    present     at     the
announcement   of   the   endowment   drive
one
30< HK.
ASP 10th ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATED IN FRESNO
by Barlow Der Mugrdechian
The Armenian Studies Program marked
its tenth anniversary under the direction of
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, at a gala banquet
on the California Stale University, Fresno
campus, Monday October 27, 1986. An
overflow crowd of students, faculty, and
the Fresno Armenian community celebrated
the activities and the achievement of the
Armenian Studies Program.
Guests were greeted at the door by
members of the CSUF Armenian Studies
Organization who invited the guests to
enjoy the cheese and wine served before
dinner. Former ASO member Jim Karagozian enchanted the guests with selection
played on his kanon. A display table in
the foyer exhibited the publications
produced by the Armenian Studies Program
over the past years. The display included
the published works of Dr. Dickran
Kouymjian, Director of the Armenian
Studies Program. Highlighting the publications was his latest book William
Saroyan: An Armenian Trilogy,
published by the CSU Fresno Press. The
book was edited by Kouymjian, a close
friend of Saroyan's, and also includes an
introduction written by Kouymjian. Also
exhibited were back issues of Hye
Sharzhoom with pictures and stories of
the last eight years of activity of the
Armenian Students Organization and the
Armenian Studies Program.
Two easels were set up with schematic
enlargements of the proposed Center for
Armenian Studies which will be located in
the new Leon S. Peters Business Building
and the Valley Business Center which will
be completed in fall of 1988.
Present at the banquet were CSUF
President Dr. Harold and Mrs. Haak; the
Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Dr.
and Mrs. Peter Klassen; and Mrs. Marian
Bagdasarian a trustee of the Califonia State
University system. The program was
conducted by CSUF Armenian Studies
Program lecturer Barlow Der Mugrdechian.
Dr. Klassen, addressing the achievements of the ASP during the past years
said, "The Armenian Studies Program
continues to establish its significance and
reputation. A character in William
Saroyan's    play    Armenians expressed
sentiments    incarnate    in    the    Armenian
Studies     Program.     'Armenia    shall    not
perish. Armenians shall not perish. We are
Armenians and though we are eight or nine
thousand miles away from where we were
bom, we are still in Armenia. We are still
there, and this very place, this patriotic
coffeehouse, is Armenia.' And so to the
Armenian faculty members and the
community at large, we thank you for
keeping that vision alive."
Richard Francois, Director of
Development at CSU Fresno, in remarks
about the Leon S. Peters Business
Building, said, " What is important is not
the building, but what goes in there. If the
next generation can train but one more
Leon S. Peters, we know the valley will be
richly blessed. I am pleased the Armenian
Studies Program is in the new building. It
is terrific to have the 1986 Outstanding
Professor of the Year working in a
building with Leon S. Peters name on it."
California State University, Fresno
President Dr. Harold Haak then awarded the
plaque for the 1986 California State
University, Fresno Outstanding Professor
of the Year to Dr. Dickran Kouymjian.
Commenting on Dr. Kouymjian's accomplishments,    Dr.    Haak    said,"...    Dickran
included California State University, Fresno President Dr. Harold Haak, Dean of the
School of Social Sciences Dr. Peter Klassen, and Director of Development Richard
Francois.
The announcement of the drive for the
endowed chair was enthusiastically received by the members and friends of the
Armenian Studies Program who were present.
The future of the CSU Fresno Armenian
Studies Program will be enhanced by this
second position. The position promises to
bring new recognition and attract students
to the field of Armenian Studies.
Kouymjian is the kind of person who has
aspired for the higher things in life, and
has achieved them. And I think it is a very
wonderful accomplishment." He then
presented Dr. Kouymjian to the
appreciative guests.
Dr. Kouymjian thanked the numerous
guests for their presence at the anniversary
banquet. He noted that many of the guests
were former students of his in the
Armenian Studies Program. He said, " The
greatest tribute that you can make to me is
to acknowledge that I represent learning,
education, and scholarship, that I am the
representative for you on this campus of
an academic discipline. And if I am to
receive rewards in life, I have received
them already, by the participation of you
in my classes, and that means more to me
than everything, including this banquet."
Commenting on the history of the
Armenian Studies Program Dr. Kouymjian
remembered the late Dr. Louise
Nalbandian, " She was the pioneer of Armenian Studies on this campus. It was her
work ten years before I came, her
insistence that Armenian history be
taught, and ultimately Armenian Studies
which she engineered, that allowed my
coming, and my building on that
foundation. She died tragically in the
middle of her career, but I had the
privilege of meeting her twice and getting
to know her well, long before I had any
See BANQUET, page 4
DER MANUELIAN
AT CSU FRESNO
By Yvonne Sahagian Minassian
Editor
Tufts University Art Historian Lucy
Der Manuelian was in Fresno December 7,
1986   to   present   a   lecture   titled   "Ani:
C The Fabled Capital of Armenia".
The lecture which took place on the CSU,
Fresno campus, included a series of slides
I of Ani. An array of slides made of
watercolor paintings by  Arshag Fetvadjian
CSUF President, Harold Haak, presenting Dr. Kouymjian with
"Outstanding Professor of the Year" award.
Dr. Lucy Der Manuelian
was also included. Dr. Der Manuelian received her B.A. degree from Radcliffe
College, and her Ph.D dissertation on
Armenian art was the first ever written in
the United States on that subject
Ani was the 9th century capital of the
Bagratids and is located on the border
between Eastern Turkey and the Soviet
Union. Because of Ani's precarious
location, documentation, excavations, photographing, and other information-
gathering tasks are even more important
while difficult to undertake. Der
Manuelian's rich presentation however,
was filled with much of the available
information on the city.
The city of legend, built before Gothic
architecture, was commisioned by an
Armenian queen. It is situated in a
romantic setting perched atop a hill and
protected on three sides by cliffs. Because
of the location, the city withstood the
worst of sieges. The location and wealth
of Ani fed into the ever-present fables of
heroism, treachery, heresy and mystery.
Der Manuelian explains these fables as
being mistruths and misrepresentations.
Ani has been written about for it's
architecture, often refered to as the city of
1001 churches. It is the slides of some of
these churches which represent the true
vision of Ani. Crumbling structures of the
once people filled churches now stand
decaying with age, the wounds of
invasion, and the new damage from current
dynamite blasting by invaders from Ani's
eastern (Turkish) side. It is amazing to see
that among 95% of these churches shown,
there remains some wall or roof still
intact, still stubbornly standing. Der
Manuelian pointed out that this was due to
See DER MANUELIAN, page 8