Room 612M Named the Alexanian Aghayan Family Classroom
2 min readYEREVAN, Armenia — The SJS Charitable Trust has long been supporting the American University of Armenia (AUA) through two scholarship funds — the Vagharshak and Shooshanig Shahinian Memorial Endowed Fund and the SJS Charitable Trust Endowed Scholarship Fund endowed through the Yes, Armenian Women Can! Campaign. SJS also is among the exclusive group of 200 AUA ChangeMakers and, more recently, has named classroom 612M in the main AUA building in honor of the Alexanian Aghayan Family.
Azniv and Paul Alexanian with their daughter Shakae and granddaughters Sandra and Sheryl, circa 1955, in front of Boston University, where their son Arthur received his Bachelor of Science degree.
A cornerstone pursuit of the SJS Charitable Trust is to provide grants to Armenian organizations in the Diaspora and in Armenia. In addition, the Trust is active in philanthropic support of education for the underserved in the New York City metropolitan area, with a focus on programs in the arts and college preparation. Commenting on its longstanding support of AUA, one of the SJS trustees says, “AUA’s work falls within the interests of the SJS Trust insofar as it provides Armenian nationals an outstanding education and career opportunities.”
The naming of the Alexanian Aghayan Family Classroom was in honor of the founding trustee’s maternal grandparents, Paul Alexanian and his wife Azniv, née Aghayan. As survivors of the Armenian Genocide, Paul and Azniv valued education and ensured that their children, Shakae and Arthur, received the best possible schooling attending Armenian and American schools in Boston, Massachusetts. “Naming a classroom in their honor is a way of continuing their legacy by enabling current and future generations of Armenians to have the opportunity to acquire an excellent education.”
Students in 612M – The Alexanian Aghayan Family Classroom
With a full view of Baghramyan Avenue, 612M is located in the Main Building of the AUA campus and is equipped with newer teaching technology, including internet access and audiovisual tools to support the delivery of a modern, world-class education in an appropriate setting.
For the SJS Charitable Trust, reaching as many young Armenians as possible with the gift of education is an unparalleled legacy that AUA enables. “We hope that the students who benefit from AUA’s education give back to their nation helping others to thrive and be contributing members of their communities and society. Particularly, we would like to see AUA graduates give a hand to Armenians from underserved non-urban communities to enable them to benefit from a similar education,” the SJS trustees assert.
612M – The Alexanian Aghayan Family Classroom in the main AUA building
The AUA community is very grateful for the support of the SJS Charitable Trust and is happy to see young men and women learn something new daily in the Alexanian Aghayan Family Classroom at AUA. To learn more about naming opportunities, visit: https://philanthropy.aua.am/naming-opportunities/