AGBU Scholarship Program Awards Close to $400,000 for U.S.-Based Study

Over 100 Students Benefit in the 2013-2014 Academic Year

The fall term is underway in the U.S. and with the support of the AGBU Scholarship Program, over 100 students across the country have settled into their college campuses. For the 2013-2014 academic year, AGBU distributed close to $400,000 in aid for U.S.-based study, giving young Armenians the resources they need to pursue degrees and prepare for their careers.

The majority of these awards are AGBU Fellowships distributed to graduate students enrolled in professional, master’s and doctoral degree programs in the U.S. Yet, each year, select few outstanding seniors from AGBU’s high schools in the U.S. also receive scholarships. The grants are awarded to college-bound undergraduates and include honors and advanced placement students and varsity athletes, who display academic excellence, school spirit, and active community involvement, with big dreams for the future. 

These AGBU Heritage Scholars have been accepted to some of the country’s most competitive colleges, such as the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where Lilit Kazazian, 2013 valedictorian of the AGBU Alex & Marie Manoogian School in Southfield, is now a freshman. Her AGBU scholarship will help her study abroad in a developing country, to learn more about health disparities and work toward a career in epidemiology.

Sareen Habeshian, another Heritage Scholar, also has her sights set on international travel—as a reporter who will give voice to underrepresented groups. Habeshian credits her alma mater, the AGBU Vatche & Tamar Manoukian High School in Pasadena, with preparing her for the University of California, Berkeley. “I wouldn’t be studying journalism here today if it wasn’t for the encouragement of my teachers at the AGBU Manoukian School,” she remarked. “I was given opportunities that helped my college application stand out. Now, as a Heritage Scholar, I can continue to follow my path.”

The path for graduate students who were awarded the AGBU Fellowships for U.S.-based study has led to some of the country’s most selective institutions, such as Boston University, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Tufts, Yale, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Southern California (USC). Their fields of study include education; medicine; public administration; diplomacy, global affairs and international relations; and business administration, finance and economics.

DePaul University’s MBA program, where Raffi Elchemmas is now in his second year, has ranked among the nation’s highest. Elchemmas looks back fondly on his primary school days at the AGBU Alex & Marie Manoogian School in Michigan and his summers at Camp Nubar in upstate New York. “The AGBU U.S. Graduate Fellowship really validates everything AGBU does for me,” he commented. “And it came right when I needed it the most. With my scholarship, I can focus exclusively on my studies without worrying about balancing a part-time job with a full course load.” 

The AGBU Scholarship Program grants all recipients the flexibility that they would not otherwise have. Elchemmas was recently elected as vice president of events for DePaul’s student government, and in between classes he manages business plans, developing skills that he will soon take with him to the workforce. Similarly, Alexander Bedrosyan, a first year law student at the University of Pennsylvania, has been able to join the school’s Eastern European Law Students Association. The Association hosts guest speakers from the region, and will allow Bedrosyan to build on his recent experience with the AGBU Summer Internship Program in Moscow. 

Those graduate students who are studying while working full time also find the assistance they need with the AGBU Scholarship Program. Hrag Hamalian can continue devoting himself to the two charter schools he has founded while he completes his MBA at the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management. Hamalian, who has participated in the AGBU New York Summer Internship Program, the AGBU Young Professionals of Los Angeles, and AGBU FOCUS, notes, “Receiving my scholarship gives me a great sense of pride. I have been involved with AGBU for many years and I’m so grateful knowing I belong to an organization that stands behind all Armenians and supports them in their endeavors.”

Strengthening those ties among aid recipients and the worldwide Armenian community is central to the AGBU Scholarship Program’s mission. For Denis Aslangil, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering at Lehigh University, his scholarship has done just that: though he’s currently studying in a small college town, he’s now connected with the larger AGBU network. Aslangil first began receiving funding through AGBU International Scholarships for his undergraduate studies at Istanbul Technical University. By covering the high costs of entrance exams and applications, AGBU helped him, he says, realize his goal of studying abroad. 

The AGBU Scholarship Program allowed Yerevan native Hayk Mamajanyan to relocate to the U.S. as well. Last spring, Mamajanyan received his LLM from the University of Oxford while on an International Scholarship through the AGBU London Trust. Now, he attends the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. When he graduates he hopes to mentor Armenian students like himself who are studying in the States. Ultimately, though, he plans to return to Armenia, bringing his global knowledge to his local community. “I want to give back to my country. I envision myself teaching or practicing law; I can’t imagine not doing either,” he stated. “I believe that I belong in Armenia—I see myself there.”

Mamajanyan won’t be alone: next year Columbia University student Davit Babasyan will complete his MPA in Economic Policy Management and resume his work in Armenia’s finance sector, where he already has years of experience. Armed with a new degree and new policy recommendations, Babasyan is determined to strengthen his country’s economy. As he remarked, “I saw firsthand the dismal effects the global recession had on Armenia, and all economies. At Columbia, with my AGBU scholarship, I’m learning more about how to effectively address and if possible avoid crises with the implementation of prudent monetary and fiscal policies, as well as macro prudential regulation—an emerging approach to financial regulation…I am wholeheartedly grateful for AGBU’s support and I know that with it I can help make a prosperous Armenia a reality." 

It is that commitment to Armenia that every AGBU scholarship recipient, across the U.S. and globally, shares—and one that will continue to inspire them long after the semester’s end.  

For almost a century, the AGBU Scholarship Program has championed the higher education of thousands of promising young Armenians enrolled in leading college and universities around the world. Financed through endowment funds established by generous AGBU donors since the 1920s, the AGBU Scholarship Program has proudly contributed to the academic achievements of gifted young Armenians, offering financial assistance to full-time students of Armenian descent from close to 40 countries across six continents. Today, through its AGBU U.S. Fellowship Program and added focus on specialized fields of study, such as the performing arts and religious studies, the AGBU Scholarship Program offers financial assistance to a broader range of Armenian students across the globe.

To learn more about the AGBU Scholarship Program, please visit www.agbu-scholarship.org.