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Marine Vardanyan Editor “We are now on Armenian land.” These words were declared by the first Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in the United States, Berj Apkarian, during the ceremony marking the opening of the Fresno office on Monday, October 20, 2014. Indeed, the office of the Honorary Consul, located on the eighth floor of the historic Pacific ...

Staff Writer Michael Rettig On a bright and cool Sunday, November 2, more than 500 people gathered at Fresno State’s Maple Mall, to break ground for a Monument in honor of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. There have been multiple such Monuments erected around the world, but Fresno State’s will be the first on a university campus. The groundbreaking ...

Staff Writer Aramayis Orkusyan The vibrant, emotionally rich cascades of Armenian influenced melodies filled the Fresno State Concert Hall on the evening of November 14, 2014, as the Khachaturian Trio of Armenia performed for a sold-out audience of more than 300. The Trio’s repertoire included the dramatic, deftly nuanced, passionate and powerful sounds of Rachmaninoff’s “Trio élégiaque No. 2 in ...

Special to Hye Sharzhoom On August 8, 2014, Bitlis municipality approved the renaming of five streets in this historic town of south-eastern Turkey. Among the new names was “William Saroyan Street,” after the great American-Armenian writer, whose ancestors left Bitlis before 1915. Saroyan was born in Fresno but felt strong ties to his ancestral home. He visited Bitlis in 1964 ...

Marine Vardanyan Editor This summer, a group of nine students, led by the faculty of the Armenian Studies Program, travelled 7,024 miles to live two weeks in the ancient land of Armenia. The group, self-dubbed the “Yerevan Eleven,” was the class of Armenian Studies 120 T: Armenia Today. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian and Prof. Sergio La Porta led nine students, ...

Michael Rettig Staff Writer As the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide approaches in 2015, the Armenian community of Fresno has come together to commemorate this solemn occasion. Although a century has passed since the Genocide took place, it continues to loom large in the Armenian conscious. With this in mind, Fresno’s Armenian community, under the auspices of the Armenian ...

Andrew Esguerra Staff Writer Fresno State welcomed Dr. Joseph I. Castro as its new University President in August of 2013, replacing retiring President Dr. John Welty, who had served for 22 years. Dr. Castro, a native of nearby Hanford, California, sat down with Hye Sharzhoom to discuss the role of the Armenian Studies Program and his reflections on the Armenian ...

RUZAN ORKUSYAN – STAFF WRITER The Fresno State Armenian Students Organization (ASO)has blossomed into a thriving Armenian community charac-terized by a fierce love of Armenian culture and an undying passion for bringing justice to the victims and survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. On no day is this clearer than on April 24, the fateful day marking the start of ...

MARINE VARDANYAN – EDITOR A special moment arises each year for the faculty, students, and supporters of the Armenian Studies Program. It is an occasion that serves as a reunion, a celebration, and a reflection on the successes of the Program. The 26th Annual Armenian Studies Program Banquet took place on Sunday, March 2, 2014 at the Fort Washington Golf ...

DENISE ALTOUNIAN – STAFF WRITER For many Armenians in Fresno, the city of Bitlis, located today in the Republic of Turkey, holds a special place in their hearts. Not only was it the birthplace of the family of noted Fresno native William Saroyan, but also the birthplace to many of the Armenians who settled in Fresno in the years following ...