Vahe H. Apelian,
The recent announcement that AGBU intends to close the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian School in Pasadena, CA made me reflect on my pre-university years in the Armenian schools. I attended the Sourp Nshan school from kindergarten up to my graduation in 9th grade. After which I attended the Armenian Evangelical College for three years and thus completed my high school schooling and graduated in 1965. Both of these schools were in the capital city of Beirut, a walking distance apart, maybe a mile or so, in the hub of the Armenian community in Beirut,
Both of my Armenian schools underwent fundamental changes along with Beirut itself. The Lebanese civil that started in 1975 brought havoc to Beirut, as well as, to its Armenian community there. The warring factions divided the capital city. An imaginary line halved Beirut. East and West Beirut came into the lexicon as the capital city depopulated of its Armenian and Armenian institutions be it athletic, social, cultural and educational along with its thriving business community.
A few years after my graduation Sourp Nshan school in 1962, the school building underwent extensive renovation and rebuilding and the new emerging school was renamed Souren Khanamirian College having qualified as a full-fledged high school. It was named after is benefactor, Souren Khanamirian, who was a longstanding member of the Lebanese Parliament.
The former Sourp Nshan School turned Souren Khanamirian College was located right across the street from the famed AGBU Hovagimian-Manougian high school for boys and both were not far from the demarcation line that divided Beirut.
A few years after the onset of the civil war in 1975, the Souren Khanamirian school was moved to Fanar, an eastern suburb of Beirut whose inhabitants are mostly Christians. The population of the suburb grew exponentially because of the civil war.
Three years ago, Souren Khanamirian College along with five other Armenian Schools in East Beirut was consolidated in one school. Dwindling students had necessitated the consolidation of these schools into one.
Much like a valiant warrior, the Soup Nshan School, turned into Souren Khanamirian College has now faded in history. I retain and cherish the memories of my years there with my classmates, its eminent teachers and the three principals I had there, Yetvart Daronian, Minas Totolyan, and Hagop Iskenderian.
The west of the capital city Beirut, now formally known and capitalized as West Beirut, has completely changed now as well. From a long distance, it appears to me with some certainty that only my high school, the Armenian Evangelical College, continues to function there as an Armenian school, but with a fraction of the enrollment it enjoyed in its hey days.
I graduated from the Armenian Evangelical College (AEC) (high school) in 1965. The school was founded in 1923 and was the first Armenian high school in Lebanon that maintained an excellent academic standard throughout. There was a time when the principal’s recommendation was enough to have the student admited to the American University of Beirut. In the 1980s the school was named Yepram and Martha Philibosian Armenian Evangelical College.
The civil war in Lebanon mortally wounded AEC as well but the school survived thanks to the tenacious leadership of its eminent principal Dr. Zaven Messerlian and financial support of its graduates and alumni associations. The financial support coming from graduates became the life sustaining blood. The school would not have survived otherwise as its enrollment dwindled to a fraction of what it was once. Its building was damaged and had to be repaired. The school continues to rely on the financial support of its graduates who have generously assisted the school over the years. Dr. Zaven Messerlian retired at the conclusion of the 2017 academic year after having served the school almost all of his adult productive life, since 1950. He continues his association with the school as its honorary principal and remains an idol to generations of students who graduated during his long tenure.
Surely the landscape of the Armenian schools has changed in the Diaspora. Seven schools under the Armenian Evangelical administration, founded in Lebanon in different time, have been closed over time. Three years ago, six Armenian Schools in East Beirut were closed and consolidated in one. These schools were: Souren Khanamirian, Sophia Hagopian, Aksor Kasarjian, Apkarian, Roupinian, Forty Martyrs. Reports indicate that Schools are closing and consolidating in Aleppo as well, the Athens of the Armenian Diaspora, if I may say so. Armenian (Catholic) Sisters’ Academy in Massachusetts closed in 2015. Tekeyan Cultural Association closed Arshag Dikranian school in LA in 2015 as well. A decade or so ago AGBU closed the famed Melkonian Institute in Cyprus that rendered so much service to generations of genocide survivors and now it plans to close the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian school in Pasadena, CA.
Surely we can rightfully attribute the closing of the Armenian schools in the Diaspora to the unfolding of violent political events and financial constraints in our host countries. There appears to be another reasons as well and it pertains to our evolving perception of the Armenian schools.
To be followed.
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