By Anelga Hajjar
Special to the Mirror-Spectator
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — On Tuesday, June 13, the Knights of Vartan Ararat Lodge held its fifth annual event honoring Armenian high school graduates and college students from the local community, at Holy Trinity Armenian Church of Greater Boston.
Vartan Soukiassian, event chair, awarded College Scholarships in the amount of $1,500 each to two students, Haig Aboyan, a rising senior studying biomedical engineering at Boston University, and Hannah Harootian, a rising junior studying nursing at the University of Pennsylvania.
The college scholarship is exclusive to students with familial ties to the Knights of Vartan and requires a completed year of study and a transcript to qualify.
All the high school graduates received a certificate from Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s office acknowledging their accomplishment, along with a copy of The Armenian Diaspora Project by Scout Tufenkjian, and a gift card for school supplies from Ararat Lodge.
Nigoghos Atinizian, past Grand Commander of the Knights of Vartan, addressed the 130 people in attendance, 16 of whom were the high school graduates: Eva Marie Medzorian, Shant Arakelian, Tina Kotikian, Katarina Nalbandian, Elizabeth Santourian, Natalie Ourfalian, Alexis Cormier, Anoush Gigarjian, Taline Guzelian, Alec Maserejian, Joseph Hajjar, Daron Hamparian, Vasken Kebabjian, Andre Kotian, Garen Soukiasian, and Nareg Kalaydjian, stressing the importance of service in the Armenian community.
