USG passed a resolution tonight calling upon USC to recognize the Azerbaijan incursion into Nagorno-Karabakh and the resulting humanitarian crisis as a genocide.
Members of USC’s Armenian Students’ Association attended the weekly USG meeting and voiced their concerns that USC has done little to aid the Armenian student community or to speak out against what they say is the current genocide within Nagorno-Karabakh. These students shared how their mental health and academic work have been affected due to these atrocities.
The resolution calls on President Carol Folt, as well as USC Provosts, to “release a community message in support of the Armenian student community and [for] genocide that their nation is facing.”
The resolution was approved by USG senators and now awaits USG President Divya Jakatdar’s signature before it will be delivered by Parliamentary Secretary Ryan Tung to President Folt.
“In collaboration with the Armenian Students’ Association, we wrote a resolution as a call to action to the administration demanding that they release a social media statement, specifically Dr. Carol Folt, in support of Armenian students because of the genocide currently happening in Nagorno-Karabakh back in Armenia,” said Senator Julianna Melendez, a junior studying international relations.
Melendez has been working with the Armenian Students’ Association since last semester while running her USG campaign. “Many Armenian students showed up tonight to show their support for the resolution, to share how the genocide is affecting them personally and to urge the rest of the senators to vote ‘yes’ on the resolution.”
USC’s Armenian Students’ Association will be partnering with UCLA’s Armenian Students’ Association to hold a candlelight vigil for Artsakh on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in front of UCLA’s Royce Hall. The vigil will be to honor those who have lost their lives defending the rights of the Artsakh people.