BY ZEPYUR KASPARIAN

The past two weeks have had every Armenian glued to their phones, eagerly awaiting updates about the current conflict on Armenia’s borders along with the cruel harassment Diasporan Armenians face from Azeri aggressors.

On the morning of Friday, July 24, I decided to put my phone down and focus on something else. I picked up a book and was well into it when my phone would not stop buzzing. I opened my group chats to see the most unexpected horror: my school and adjacent community center had been vandalized with hate speech written all over its walls.

Krouzian-Zekarian Vasbouragan School, often shortened to K.Z.V. Armenian School, is the only Armenian day-school in Northern California. Around 2:30 in the morning on July 24, a group of suspected Azeri and Turkish thugs vandalized the school walls with racist, misogynistic, and anti-Armenian graffiti. So many young Armenians call K.Z.V. our second home. This racist and cruel incident has left us feeling violated and trespassed.

For Armenians in the Bay Area, this building is more than just a school. The Khachaturian Community Center is the pillar of our Armenian identity. It’s where we gather for plays, school hanteses, celebrations, weddings, commemorations, and everything in between.

However, we are bigger than this and better than this. Our community always has and will continue to stand together to rise above bigotry and hatred. On July 24th, a GoFundMe campaign was created to cover the costs of repairing the school. Within three days, there have already been over 680 donors raising a total amount of almost 80 thousand dollars.

For 40 years, K.Z.V. Armenian School has served the Armenian community in Northern California. It has taught hundreds of students about their language, history, and culture. Our community will not allow terrorists of any kind to destroy that in any way. Armenians are resilient and we will carry on.

When they go low, we go HYE!

Zepyur Kasparian is a proud graduate of K.Z.V. Class Of 2017