Yerevan State University Delegation Visits Fresno State

Staff Report

A delegation of Yerevan State University (YSU) administrators and faculty, headed by YSU President Dr. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, visited the Fresno State campus on Wednesday, February 2. Accompanying Dr. Hovhannisyan were Dr. Alexander Markarov, Head of the International Cooperation Office of YSU and Dr. Vahagn Aglyan, Director of the American Studies Center at YSU. The group was hosted at Fresno State by Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program.

The delegation was visiting several universities that have cooperative agreements with YSU, including Arizona State University and California State University, Northridge. At Fresno State the delegation held several productive meetings with administrators and faculty.

Fresno State President Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities Dr. Honora Chapman, and Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities Dr. Sergio La Porta, and Prof. Der Mugrdechian greeted the guests at the Haak Center Boardroom in the Madden Library.

Dr. Jiménez-Sandoval had visited Armenia in the summer of 2019 and welcomed his YSU counterpart Dr. Hovhannisyan. Yerevan State University and Fresno State have had a cooperative agreement in place since 1991 and Armenian Studies student groups have been hosted by YSU during the past thirty years. In a warm exchange, the university Presidents discussed various areas of potential cooperation. Dr. Hovhannisyan, who was elected as the President by the YSU Board of Trustees in December of 2021, brings a new vision as the head of Armenia’s premiere public university. More than 15,000 students attend Yerevan State University.

The YSU delegation then met with the Dean of Continuing and Global Education Dr. Scott Moore and Associate Dean Dr. Daniel Bernard. Ideas were exchanged about establishing a summer program in Armenia for students in various disciplines at Fresno State. The focus will be on one or two disciplines in which the two universities share common interests. A working group was established to bring these ideas to fruition.

Prof. Der Mugrdechian and Armenian Studies faculty member Dr. Hagop Ohanessian then escorted the delegation to the campus Armenian Genocide Monument.

Prof. Der Mugrdechian explained the significance of the Monument as the only such Genocide Monument on a college campus in the United States. The delegation expressed their appreciation for the Armenian community’s support in the realization of the Genocide Monument.

Prof. Der Mugrdechian and President Hovhannisyan discussed the various means by which the ties between the two universities could be strengthened. In particular, YSU will soon be establishing an Endowment Fund so that donors in the United States and other diasporan centers can contribute to the development of Armenia’s oldest university, founded in 1919.

Prof. Der Mugrdechian also discussed the activities of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State and about the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno, which has now published fourteen volumes. A mutual exchange of gifts followed the discussion.

The YSU delegation departed for Los Angeles the same evening, before their return to Yerevan on February 4.