For the 99th anniversary of the genocide, social relations and policy junior and club president Sona Movsisyan said the club wanted to raise awareness of the tragedy on campus. The small commemoration included food, posters, maps, pamphlets and a handmade replica of the memorial in Armenia.
The genocide was the period when Turks forced Armenians out of their home country into the Syria Desert, according to club adviser Hovig Kouyoumdjian .
“When (World War I) started, there was ... a decision to annihilate all the Armenians ... to deport the whole race ... take the elderly, the women and children on a death march all the way to the Syrian desert without food without water,” he said.
Religious conflict and racial tension between the Armenian Christians and the Turkish Muslims was a large factor.
“It’s a systematic method by the Turkish government to massacre the Armenian people,” Medieval literature professor Tamar Boyadjian said. She said Armenians believe the massacre was premeditated.
Kouyoumdjian said it is not taught in Turkish textbooks, nor is it mentioned in Turkish history.
Some Armenians feel the genocide is still not over. Boyadjian said many say they are still in a “white genocide,” or the constant battle to gain recognition that these events did happen.
The club wanted to gain support of the community to make it more widely recognized.
“Its very comforting to us Armenians knowing that other people know (about it),” nutritional sciences junior and club vice president Anahit Movsesyan said. “When we have a bigger population of people that know about the Armenian Genocide, there’s a better chance of getting it recognized.”
