Public Relations Director
Contact: Mira Yardemian
Haigazian University
Rue Mexique – Kantari
P.O. Box 11-1748
Riad El-Solh 1107 2090
Beirut – Lebanon
Haigazian University Celebrates the First Event of Its
50th Anniversary: Founders’ Day
On October 18, 2004, at 12:00 pm, the hall of the First Armenian
Evangelical Church in Beirut was full of anticipation as students,
alumni, faculty, staff, press, guests and others gathered to take part
in Haigazian University’s Founders’ Day, the kick-off event of each
academic year. But among the guests this year were the Ambassador of
Armenia in Lebanon, Mr. Areg Hovanessian, and the keynote speaker of
the occasion, the President of the Lebanese Press Federation,
Mr. Mohammad Baalbaki.
Beginning with the Lebanese National Anthem, followed by the
invocation of the Campus Minister, the Rev. Nishan Bakalian, the
Vice-Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, the Rev. Robert
Sarkissian, announced the official commencement of the 50th
anniversary celebrations. He assured the audience of the board’s
commitment to the founding principles and mission of Haigazian
University.
In her tribute to the Founders, the Dean of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Arda
Ekmekji, highlighted the factors leading to the foundation of the
University 50 years ago: the need to prepare Armenian Evangelical high
school students for university admission, the efforts of churches in
the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches of the Near East (UAECNE),
and its then-president, the late Rev. Hovhannes Aharonian, and the
$25,000 grant of Mr. Steven Mehagian to the Armenian Missionary
Association of American (AMAA) in New York, giving birth to the
project in October 1955. Other significant names, such as Stephen
Philibosian, the Rev. Puzant Kalfayan and the AMAA, were mentioned as
maintaining an ongoing interest in the college.
The Rev. Dr. Armenag Haigazian, in whose name the university was
named, was a graduate of Yale University, a distinguished educator,
theologian, linguist, pastor, writer, musician and photographer. Until
his deportation by the Kemalist forces in 1921, he was the much-loved
and respected president of the Jenanyan Apostolic Institute in Konya,
Turkey. All of these attributes of this prominent academic justify the
fact the University was named in his honor.
Afterwards, the audience enjoyed a solo, `My Tribute’ by Andrae
Crouch, powerfully delivered by vocalist Houry Apartian, and
accompanied on the keyboard by Haigazian student Vartan Agopian.
The Director of the Student Life, Mr. Antranik Dakessian, introduced
the Student of the Year for 2004, Mr. Abdel Khaleq Abdel Khaleq, who
in his address acknowledged that Haigazian University has enriched
students not only with excellent education, but also with high ethical
and moral standards. He considered Haigazian his second home, where he
shared with fellow students his goals and experiences, and most
importantly got acquainted with the Armenian culture. Considering that
a well-rounded university education consists of the balanced
acquisition of academic knowledge, social experience and spiritual
well-being, he urged the new students to get involved in activities
and clubs of the university.
The Dean of Business Administration and Economics, Dr. Fadi Asrawi,
remembered the Rocket Society of Haigazian College by a very
interesting slide presentation: Founded at the College in November
1960, the Haigazian Rocket Society was organized for two aims: one, to
interest and acquaint students with this new field of study; and two,
to research the properties and performance of specific propellants and
the construction design of rocket propulsion systems. During the first
year five students participated. This number increased considerably
during the years following, and in the summer of 1962 it became a
national project, adopted by the Lebanese government, under the name
`The Lebanese Rocket Society’. Of particular note was that the
ballistics expert appointed by the Lebanese Army at that time to the
Society, General Youssef Wehbe, was in the audience, and offered his
own reflections on the Society.
The keynote speaker, the President of the Press Federation,
Mr. Mohammad Baalbaki, eloquently delivered his speech and emphasized
on the role that the Armenian community in general, and Haigazian
University in particular, played in the history of Lebanon, in the
years of the Lebanese civil war, and its positive and exemplary
contribution to Lebanese society. He commented that although
Dr. Armenag Haigazian has passed away, his memory and deeds are
perpetuated through the philosophy of Haigazian University, which in
itself is a `Rocket’ in the field of knowledge and higher education.
Finally, the president of the University, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian,
offered words in which he considered the namesake of the university,
Dr. Armenag Haigazian, as symbolically a founder behind the founders,
since he as a person embodied the motto of the university: truth,
freedom and service. Truth – Rev. Haigazian had a true and
comfortable sense of belonging to his people and his cultural
context. Likewise, truth at Haigazian University starts with the
discovery of the self, and God. Freedom – Regrettably, Armenag
Haigazian’s Ottoman context did not allow this in the early twentieth
century. With Armenian identity and Lebanese outlook, the University
was able to integrate the Armenians with the non-Armenians, as well as
initiating in the early 60s a scientific symbol of freedom, that is, a
series of rockets called the `Cedar’. Service – Rev. Haigazian’s
significance was in putting all his knowledge and characteristics in
the service of people and God. This sense of service in the University
today derives from our faith in God.
The president continued by acknowledging a number of significant
people present in the audience: Mrs. Maggie Matossian, a member of the
Board of Directors of Haigazian since the very first years, and later
the founder of the Women’s Auxiliary; two of the 43 original students
who were the first class to register in 1955; and General
Wehbe. Finally he expressed gratitude to the many people in Lebanon
and the USA, who have worked, prayed, paid, planned, thought for
Haigazian or received higher education in it.
Following the Alma Mater, sung by Ms. Apartian, the attendees
proceeded to the Matossian Gallery in the Mugar Building, where
archival documents and photographs of 50 years of Haigazian’s history
had been newly put on display.