SAN FRANCISCO–The endowment campaign for the U.C. Berkeley Armenian Studies Program (ASP) will be celebrating the community’s support for the program with a formal gala on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at the exclusive Olympic Club in San Francisco. The night will include Guest Speaker John Evans, Former US Ambassador to Armenia. To date, over $700,000 has been raised for the ASP since the start of the U.C. Berkeley Armenian Alumni’s $1.7M fundraising campaign. The UCBAA has recently launched a “$100 Steps to $1 Million” campaign to reach a final goal of raising the additional $1 million for the ASP.
Funds raised by the 100 Steps Campaign and Gala will benefit the William Saroyan Endowment in Contemporary Armenian Studies at U.C. Berkeley. The $1.0M goal is to ensure the expansion and permanence of the ASP’s multi-faceted program, with a long-term goal of becoming the national leader in Armenian Studies. These funds help ensure programs such as several upcoming seminars and lectures planned by the ASP this spring. In addition to many excellent speakers lined up this spring (for detailed list, visit www.ucbaa.com/events), the ASP will be hosting an International Symposium in Memory of Hrant Dink. This day-long on campus conference, held on Sunday April 6, will feature scholars addressing the topic of “Democratization, Genocide-Denial, and the Armenian-Turkish Dialogue”. Full program details can be found at www.ucbaa.com/events.
“Our community’s support of ASP results in these worthy and informative campus events,” commen’s Fundraising Committee Chair, Adam Kablanian. “These events enrich not only Armenia’s, but also the greater community at Cal and beyond, and that is why we have a responsibility to grow this program.”
Plans are underway for an elegant and exciting Gala evening, including anchor of KTVU Channel 2 News at 5 and Bay Area News at 7, Gasia Mikaelian as Mistress of Ceremonies. Entertainment for the evening will include the Hosharian Brothers Band from Los Angeles, as well as a Dinner Party Champagne raffle and Live Auction.
For additional information about donating to the fundraising campaign or for Gala information, please contact Cynthia Avakian at cpavakian@yahoo.com or call 415-566-1120.
About the Armenian Studies Program:
The Armenian Studies Program at the University of California at Berkeley is funded through the generosity of the William Saroyan Endowment and the Krouzian Endowment Fund, and was established initially as a Visiting Professorship in Armenian Studies in 1995. Under the direction of Dr. Stephan Astourian, Adjunct Professor of History, the ASP has since developed into a full-fledged academic program focusing on contemporary Armenian history, language, politics and culture. The ASP is now fully integrated into the Institute of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES), generally viewed as the best in the nation. The program is further enriched by visiting lectures, academic conferences, symposia, and public speaking engagemen’s.
