The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
Dr. Bill Erysian, one of
the original editors and co-founders of Hye Sharzhoom, shared some of his
thoughts on the early years of the
newspaper during the Armenian Studies
Banquet held March 15. His remarks are reprinted below.
It’s not difficult to recall
what
was happening on this campus, in this community and in the Diaspora thirty
years ago. Because of a combination of political events
unfolding in the late
1970’s that provoked a resurgent awareness of the complex issues still
surrounding the Genocide, a sense of patriotism
and historical identity had
overtaken many Armenians in the world – 15 years before anyone would have
realistically anticipated anything
like an independent Armenian nation.
And a handful of young
Armenian men and women at Fresno State University, prompted by the need
for
self-expression, a desire to add a new voice to world events and create a forum
for debate and dissemination of thought – in all
things Armenian –gathered to
resurrect an Armenian students’ organization and create a medium for the
message – Hye Sharzhoom. At that
same time, an Armenian Studies Program
was entering a new era under the guidance of Dickran Kouymjian, who, at that
time, was not much
older than my current age.
Now that’s a measure of time.
We later saw it all as a
sort of an alignment of the planets. How
was it possible
that nearly half of that core group of Armenian students were
journalism majors? How was it possible
that two of our mentors on the
journalism faculty were the legendary former UPI
Editor in Chief Roger Tatarian and long-time California Courier editor
Art Margosian? It seemed like the
perfect opportunity for us, presenting itself at a pivotal time in the history
of the Armenian Diaspora. We embraced
these
exciting times and it was reflected in the diversity of the newspaper –
breaking news, local and world events, editorials, arts and
culture, poetry,
debate, opinions, book reviews – virtually anything we could squeeze onto those
pages, including a special Armenian
language page.
Thus began the long history
of Hye Sharzhoom, the first and only student-run Armenian newspaper in
the world, with a circulation
that has now reached 7,000 and which is sent to
more than 40 countries. You would be surprised at how many places this
newspaper has
popped up over the years.
As one of the co-founders and original editors of the newspaper, I am
compelled to recount a couple of interesting
experiences I had because of my
early association with Hye Sharzhoom that demonstrate the impact this
publication has had.
A few years
after I
graduated from
Later
that evening, a rough
looking but soft-spoken young man (obviously Armenian) came up to me and asked
if I was Bill Erysian from
Another time, not too long
ago, I was in the
Perhaps what I remember
most about Hye Sharzhoom is the incredible amount of work that went into
producing
some of those early issues. We
had no desktop publishing in those days.
Personal computers had not even been invented yet. It was
cut and paste, paragraph by paragraph,
on a dimly-lit lightboard in the basement of the Daily Collegian
university newspaper office,
late at night, struggling to meet our printing
deadline – with Dickran Kouymjian peering over our shoulders, smoking a cigar.
It was
worth every minute…
A surprising number of
individuals have worked on Hye Sharzhoom over the years. Those names appear in the booklet
on your
tables and some of those people are here today.
They deserve to be recognized.
Thank you.