Students Join Hands on Anniversary of Armenian Genocide
By CATHERINE CHANG
Daily Californian, CA
April 22 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
Senior Vehanoush Ghookasian, left, joined more than 200 students in
a demonstration on Sproul Plaza yesterday to commemorate the 90th
anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, when some 1.5 million
Armenians were killed.
“United Hands Across Cal” was organized by the Armenian Students’
Association, which joined forces with several other student groups,
including Bears for UNICEF, Amnesty International and Campaign to
End the Death Penalty, to take a stand for human rights.
Participants held hands and lined up in front of Sproul Hall, where
several speakers read survivor accounts and spoke on the issue. The
line of students began at the corner of Bancroft Way and Telegraph
Avenue and stretched across Sproul Plaza, nearly reaching Sather Gate.
“Standing for human rights and standing against crimes against humanity
is really a universal thing,” said junior Kristina Bedrossian, an
event organizer. “In the end, we’re all human-we need to be able to
join together to recognize history.”
While many association members attended the event to commemorate
the genocide, students who participated in the event were given
tags so they could write down any own personal causes they had come
to represent.
Students addressed other issues such as education, awareness, ending
the death penalty and universal human rights.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress