LOS ANGELES–Since its launch in September–the campaign to fund USC’s Institute of Armenian Studies has registered notable successes in drawing support from a wide range of key individuals from all segmen’s of the Armenian community.
At a dinner meeting at the Bistro Gardens on November 11–the Institute’s Steering and Banquet Committees took note of their achievemen’s to date–and discussed the next steps to be taken to attract new contributors–leading to the Inaugural Banquet of February 13–2005. The attendees were particularly enthused hearing the announcement by Steering Committee Chairman Charles Ghailian that total pledges to support the Institute had passed the $360,000 mark. An endowment of several million dollars is needed as the proceeds could only be used for the operations of the Institute.
Banquet Committee co-chairs–Savey Tufenkian and Elizabeth Agbabian–reported on their plans to mobilize the community to make the February 13 Inaugural Banquet a resounding success.
Prospective donors are urged to make known their specific contributions at an early date for inclusion in the Institute’s Honor Roll and program listings. The special guest of the evening was Professor Peter Balakian–author of the bestseller "The Burning Tigris," who underlined the crucial role that the Institute of Armenian Studies would play in view of its multidisciplinary range of scholarly and community activities. Others in attendance were Ralph Tufenkian–Hermine Janoyan–Harut Sassounian– Dr. John & Mary Kassabian–Dr. Mihran Agbabian–Alex Baroian–Shant Minas–Silva Bezdikian–Mark Chenian–Edward Zohrabian–Armen Janian–Peter Mehrabian–Serina Keshishian–Michael Mahdesian–Sinan Sinanian–Judge Dickran Tevrizian–Varant Melkonian–Gerald Papazian–and John Berberian.
Invitations for the Inaugural Banquet of February 13–2005 will be sent shortly. For further information–contact Dr. R.H. Dekmejian (213) 740-3619; dekmejia@usc.edu.