Author: Boris Nahapetian

The Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan Armenian School is saddened to learn of the passing of their beloved former principal, Dr. Arsine Oshagan who was KZV’s principal from 1984 to 1988.

During her tenure, KZV hosted both Vehapars – His Holiness Karekin I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, and His Holiness Vazken I, Catholicos of All Armenians. Each pontifical visit blessed KZV in a special way. During her last year, in 1988, five fine young people became the School’s first Eighth Grade graduates, fulfilling a community’s dream.

The KZV Administration, teachers, Alumni Association, School Board, and PTA, extend their sincerest sympathies to her family.

Dr. Arsine Oshagan, 80, esteemed educator, management consultant, and Armenian community leader passed away on April 28, 2022, after valiantly facing an experience with cancer. 
 
Dr. Oshagan, a resident of Radnor PA, was a prominent force in the Philadelphia Armenian community who engaged in organizations and efforts at the local, national, and international levels. Her life was dedicated to enhancing the educational and cultural heritage of Armenians around the globe. She and her late husband, Dr. Vahe Oshagan traveled the world supporting cultural, literary, religious, and nationalistic endeavors. 

KZV School staff in the 1980’s

Dr. Oshagan directed academic programs in three Armenian schools, including the Arshag and Sophie Galstaun School of Hamazkayin (Sydney, Australia), Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan Armenian School (San Francisco CA), and Armenian Sisters Academy (Radnor PA). She recently completed a twenty-one-year career in business management consulting with Gap International (Delaware County PA) where she was appointed as a Vice-President, specializing in research and development, and promoting business and individual transformation. 
 
Dr. Oshagan received her education in the field of mathematics at Mount Holyoke College (A.B. with distinction and with honor), University of California, Los Angeles (M.A.), and University of Connecticut (Ph.D.). Her honors include Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Mu Epsilon (mathematics). During her student years, she spent a year learning Armenian at the Palandjian Jemaran of Hamazkayin (Beirut). 
 
Born Arsine Rustigian on April 1, 1942, to Jacob and Stella Sachaklian Rustigian, she was raised in Hartford CT where she was a member and Sunday School Director of St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church and a graduate of the Loomis Chaffee School. 
 
She leaves a brother Lt Col George Rustigian (USAF-Ret) and his wife Barbara, a sister Jackie Rustigian, and their families, Dale and Crystal Rustigian, and children, Michael Rustigian, and Loriann Rustigian and child. 
 
Through her marriage to Dr. Vahe Oshagan, she leaves two stepsons, Dr. Hayg Oshagan and wife Georgi-ann, and Ara Oshagan and wife Anahid, and their families, Alidz and Philip Nigon and children, Ashod Oshagan, Sebouh Oshagan, Adom Oshagan, Aren Oshagan, and Shahan Oshagan.
 
Dr. Arsine Oshagan was an ardent contributor to the Philadelphia Armenian community. She served on the Board of Trustees of St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Prelacy National Representatives Assembly (NRA), sang in the church choir, and dedicated over twenty years to teaching Armenian to adults to link them to their mother tongue. 
 
In so many ways, Arsine Oshagan is an irreplaceable force in her beloved Philadelphia Armenian community, and in every other circle of her life, be it family, friends, students, parents, and colleagues. May her legacy live on in all whom she touched.  
 
Funeral services will be held on May 11, at St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church, located at 8701 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia PA 19128. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. and Mass will commence at 11:00 a.m. Burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery and a luncheon will follow at St. Gregory Community Center.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church or Armenian Sisters Academy, Radner PA.

The KZV School community’s thoughts and prayers are with the families during this sad time.

The ANCA-WR’s Education Committee website offers age-appropriate teaching resources, on the Armenian Genocide, for educators

LOS ANGELES—On the 107th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, more than 3 million National Education Association members received an informational sheet and a digital guide on how they can incorporate the Armenian Genocide in their classrooms. 

The National Education Association is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.

The distribution of the digital guide on teaching about the Armenian Genocide followed the NEA Convention’s adoption of a resolution spearheaded by ANCA-WR Education Committee member and California Teacher’s Association delegate Taline Arsenian in July of 2021, which called on the NEA “to use existing digital and print media to promote teaching about the Armenian Genocide by writing an article about the history of the Armenian genocide, including the assistance of genocide victims and orphans through the Near East Relief.” 

The guide referred educators to the ANCA-WR’s Education Committee website, which offers age-appropriate teaching resources, books for educators and students, relevant films and videos, fact sheets, sample lesson plans, and more. 

Emphasizing the importance of combating genocide denial and revisionism, and the vital role of genocide education in ensuring the prevention of mass atrocities, the NEA guide noted that “educators and leaders alike must shine a light on these horrors to help build a better world for our children—a society that stands firmly against the violent oppression of any group and works to mobilize the best of humanity for those in need of assistance.”

“Our public schools must help to educate the new generation to look critically at the ongoing present-day effects of genocide denial,” said Arsenian in a quote to the NEA.

“We have the moral responsibility to ensure that the Armenian Genocide and other crimes against humanity are taught by educators,” remarked Verginie Touloumian, Interim Executive Director of the ANCA-WR. “We applaud the NEA for taking a step in the right direction, but our work is far from over. We look forward to working with our partners to ensure every educator in the country has the tools to teach about the Armenian Genocide in their classrooms to ensure this crime is never forgotten – and never repeated,” Touloumian concluded. 

When the U.S. Congress recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2019 with the passage of H.Res.296 and S.Res.150, both resolutions explicitly encouraged education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide as a matter of U.S. policy.

In an important step toward this goal, the ANCA has worked closely with Congressional leaders in recent weeks to support the  Armenian Genocide Education Act, submitted to Congress on Thursday, April 21st by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) – which has already garnered over 40 co-sponsors. 

This landmark legislation, introduced on the eve of the international commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 24th, seeks to provide $10 million in funding over five years for the Library of Congress to educate Americans about Ottoman Turkey’s systematic and deliberate state-sponsored mass murder, national dispossession, cultural erasure, and exile of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians, between 1915 and 1923.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.