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PRESS RELEASE

Friday, June 8, 2007

Presentation by Ara Tekian on Climbing Mt. Ararat Tops Busy Calendar of
Events for AGBU Chicago

Calling his climbing of Mt. Ararat "the journey of a lifetime," Ara
Tekian, a medical education specialist and professor at the University
of Illinois-Chicago, delivered a riveting presentation of his
experience, illustrated by more than 300 images, at the AGBU Chicago
Center on March 4, 2007. He had made this pilgrimage last August with
the president of the American University of Armenia (AUA), Haroutune
Armenian, and accompanied by Dr. Armenian’s wife Sona, assistant
professor of public health at AUA, Varduhi Petrosyan, and her husband
Arsen Krikoryan, as well as a former professor of public health at AUA,
Dr. Arthur Melkonyan.
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As Tekian and Armenian prepared for this once-in-a-lifetime trip, they
decided the best way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Armenian
independence and the founding of AUA was "to raise the Armenian flag on
Mt. Ararat." Once the group reached the summit, Tekian said, "The sense
of achievement and pride was overwhelming…" Due to a temperature of
minus 30 Fahrenheit (-34 Celsius) and fingers freezing in the wind, they
stayed only twenty minutes at the peak, forgoing plans to dance an
Armenian folk dance and drink Armenian cognac.

Commenting on the journey, which also included visits to Ani, the
monastery of Varag, the Holy Cross Church of Aghtamar, and the city of
Kars, Dr. Tekian said, "This trip was a spiritual journey, climbing a
sacred mountain and visiting some of the most important religious
centers in Western Armenia. It was a pilgrimage for me to trace my
roots. Dreams do come true! Finally I climbed Mt. Ararat, and when the
journey was over, I was a different person. I acquired such strength
that gave me confidence, courage, and determination that there is
nothing impossible in life. I now believe you can conquer any height and
overcome any difficulty in life if you have the determination."

Enthused by Dr. Tekian’s presentation, AGBU Chicago is considering the
possibility of arranging a group tour to climb Mt. Ararat in the summer
of 2008. Those interested in joining the group should contact AGBU
Chicago Board chair Leona Mirza at Imirza@northpark.edu or call (773)
588-2844.

A FULL YEAR OF EVENTS

Chicago AGBU began this year’s calendar of noteworthy events on January
22 and 23, by hosting five prominent Armenian government press
secretaries and journalists visiting the United States from Yerevan on a
US State Department exchange program. The visiting media professionals
were: Ruzanna Azroyan, Assistant to the Press Secretary, President’s
Office, Government of Armenia; Sarmen Baghdasaryan, Head, Policy
Planning Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Lusine Harutyunyan,
Press Secretary, Ministry of Energy; Meri Harutyunyan, Head, Information
and Public Relations Department, Government of Armenia; Nelli
Manucharyan, Press Secretary, Customs State Committee, Government of
Armenia; and Lusik Tovmasyan, Second Secretary and Head, Press Division,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Following a lively discussion on continuing developments in the Armenian
economy and a community reception at the AGBU/Chicago Center, the guests
were hosted at the renowned Sayat Nova Armenian restaurant in downtown
Chicago. While in Chicago, the group toured the prestigious Medill
School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and
discussed American journalism education with a faculty member, who had
once covered Armenia as a foreign correspondent. Their American tour
also included stops in Washington, DC, Portland, OR, Tampa, FL, and New
York.

On February 3, Harvard University doctoral candidate Rachel Goshgarian
gave a compelling talk sponsored by the Knights of Vartan on the history
of the Armenians and Turks as a bridge and obstacle to reconciliation.

On February 11, Chicago AGBU co-promoted Music in the Loft Valentine’s
concert featuring Ani and Marta Aznavoorian and Stefan Milenkovich, with
a special piece composed by Eric Hachikian. Marta Aznavoorian is a
member of the Lincoln Trio, ensemble in residence at the highly regarded
Music Institute of Chicago, where she is also an instructor of piano.
Her sister Ani is a world-renowned concert cellist, and is married to
Mr. Milenkovich. Eric Hachikian is a rising-star composer and the son of
Gloria and Ken Hachikian, chair of the Armenian National Committee of
America.

On February 24, George Shirinian, a featured speaker at North Park
University’s all-day Conference on Genocide, gave a special presentation
that same evening at AGBU/Chicago Center on the topic of "New Trends in
Armenian Genocide Studies." Due to a severe ice storm, only ten brave
souls were in attendance yet this turned out to be a blessing in
disguise, as the small audience engaged in a lively question-and-answer
session with Dr. Shirinian.

AGBU/Chicago concluded its spring calendar with a weekend of theatre: on
April 14 the chapter hosted a presentation of the well-known cartoonist
Alexander Saroukhan’s satiric play, "Menk Hayeren Chenk Kider" (We Don’t
Know Armenian), by the "Pokr Tem" (Little Stage) Troupe of Toronto’s
Holy Trinity Church in AGBU/Chicago Center’s Terzian Hall. Staged by the
celebrated director Sirarpi Adjemian, the play attracted an audience of
over 200. The evening’s proceeds benefited "Parev Monthly," Chicago’s
sole Armenian-language newspaper, whose editor Missak Kharmanjian gave
welcoming remarks and expressed his gratitude to the organizers and
sponsors prior to the presentation. On Sunday afternoon, April 15, AGBU
Chicago was honored to host a community benefit performance of Richard
Kalinoski’s highly acclaimed "Beast On The Moon," the stirring drama
about two Genocide survivors which recently ran off Broadway. The
production–Chicago’s fourth–was staged by Provision Theater Co., which
generously donated half of the benefit performance’s ticket sales for
the day to the AGBU Children’s Centers in Armenia.

For more information on AGBU Chicago and upcoming events, please email
agbuchicago@yahoo.com or visit

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City with an
annual budget of $36 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian
identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in 35 countries.