AZG Armenian Daily #102, 04/06/2005

Diaspora

GRADUATION CEREMONY AT MELKONIAN INSTITUTION

>>From Our Own Correspondent

On Thursday 19th of May a Memo was posted at the Melkonian, inviting
staff (Teachers, Supervisors, etc) to this years “Graduation Ceremony
and Dinner” to be held the Hilton Park Hotel!

Staff was told that employees were all invited, along with their
spouses to the dinner at the 5 star hotel.

Each graduating student would also be allowed to invite up to 4 guests.

The majority of the teachers along with the students were absolutely
livid on reading this, final insult to them, with much murmurings of
boycotting the ceremony.

The 7th formers were then asked to a meeting with the “Principal”,
to discuss the ceremony.

They were told that the move was due to concerns about security, that
it was a fait accompli, the hotel being already booked and paid for;
that the decision is final.

In other words, the usual tactics employed by Gordon and his
entourage. The students’ argument for having the ceremony at the
school as in past years fell on deaf ears, with all attempts by the
7th formers to make them see logic and reconsider being dismissed
out of hand.

Thus we are faced with a graduation, the last graduation, without
the powerful presence of the Melkonian brothers’ caring stare.

Who would have thought that a maniac, driven by Bush-style paranoia
about terrorism, would do this to a group of young adults, a group
whose only wish is to be allowed to graduate with dignity and following
years of tradition.