ARMENIA—The Armenian Cultural Foundation’s “We Are Gyumri” committee is accepting applications for the 2019 – 2020 Mina Shirvanian Scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded to six university students in the Shirak Province of Armenia for the upcoming academic year.
Since its launch, the scholarship has been awarded to 22 students. Currently six scholarship recipients have successfully graduated from their respective colleges, and the remaining students are expected to graduate in the near future. The application deadline for the upcoming school year is June 15, and interested parties may apply online. Scholarship candidates will be selected by the “We Are Gyumri” scholarship fund committee following an interview process along with verification of relevant school documents.
The mission of the “We Are Gyumri” campaign is to create a positive and lasting impact on youth in Gyumri. The campaign restructured and renovated the Shirvanian Youth Center in Gyumri; a year-round functional program at the center that teaches Gyumri youth everyday skills, provides them with the essentials they need for a brighter future, and serves as a bridge between youth in Gyumri and their peers in the Diaspora. The “We Are Gyumri” Mina Shirvanian Scholarship Fund sponsors residents of the Shirak Region to pursue their undergraduate education in their native region.
As another component of the “We Are Gyumri” campaign, the “We Are Gyumri” Scholarship Fund was launched on December 7, 2015, with the first round of scholarships awarded in 2016. In honor of the late Mina Shirvanian and her role as a community benefactor with an immense passion for supporting Armenian youth, the scholarship fund was changed to a memorial scholarship in February 2018.
The scholarship fund is intended for residents of the Shirak Province to pursue their undergraduate education in their native region. With this scholarship, the campaign hopes to inspire the youth to follow their dreams and strengthen their careers. Past scholarship recipients have focused their academic careers in a variety of fields, including Language Arts, History, Psychology, Applied Arts, and Economics to name a few.
As noted in the scholarship guidelines, all scholarship recipients must commit to completing volunteer hours at the Shirvanian Youth Center in Gyumri. Since its opening in 2016, the youth center has served as a hub for the youth of Gyumri, where they partake in various year-round activities including English language classes, Armenian national dance, computer classes, intellectual clubs and tutoring, art, piano, and guitar classes, as well as events and exhibitions.
The Scholarship Fund, strictly available for Gyumri residents, is designed to encourage the youth in Gyumri to further their education without having to leave their homeland. The annual tuition is $750 per student. To sponsor a student or donate to the Mina Shirvanian Scholarship Fund, please send a check payable to “ACF” to ACF Shirak Youth Center, 104 N Belmont Avenue, Suite 300, Glendale, CA 91206.
