Ռազմիկ Սիմոնեան‎I am a descendant of a survivor of the Armenian Genocide! 53 mins ·

My Son Shant has a Midterm exams at UCSD on April 24 2015, He wrote the following letter to his professors.

Dear Prof. Mirza and Prof. Sahoo,

According to the class schedule, our first midterm exam is currently scheduled to be held on Friday, April 24. This April 24 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide - the Ottoman Empire's systematic extermination of 1.5 million innocent Armenians - which began on April 24, 1915. Turkey continues to deny the fact that it was responsible for this ethnic cleansing which took place 100 years ago.

My great-grandparents were massacred during the Genocide, and their children (my grandparents) were orphaned. Most of the children were also massacred; however, the few who survived, like my grandparents, were fortunately saved by foreigners who took them as their own and raised them. The Genocide has affected my life directly, and it has the same effect on every Armenian who still lives today. This is an extremely devastating event in Armenian history, and the wound has been left open since.

Los Angeles, CA has one of the largest populations of Armenians, and every year on April 24, major protests and commemorations take place there, asking for recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey as well as the United States. Both of these nations have yet to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Due to the fact that this April 24 marks the 100th anniversary of the Genocide, a much larger protest than usual has been planned to take place in Los Angeles.

It is immensely important for me, as well as every single Armenian, to take part in these protests on this April 24, and the only way that will be possible is if we are able to miss classes on that day.

I would deeply appreciate it if it would be possible to move the first midterm exam to a different day. Thank you for your consideration.

Shant Simonian