USC ARMENIAN INSTITUTE CAMPAIGN GAINS MOMENTUM. INAUGURAL BANQUET
PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY 13TH

LOS ANGELES, December 13 (Noyan Tapan). Since its launching 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 segments 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 achievements 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 0,000 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.