LOS ANGELES, CA – The Board of Directors of the ANCA-WR has awarded its monthly “Student Hai-Tahd” award to Edwin Isagholian, a junior at Ferrahian High School. Isagholian is being honored for distributing over 1,000 postcards last year urging President George W. Bush to honor his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

When the ANCA began its national postcard drive last year to have President Bush honor his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Isagholian was among the first activists nationwide to request hundreds of postcards. By first approaching family members, then friends, he quickly exhausted his supply of 40 postcards. He later distinguished himself by requesting hundreds of postcards, which he had signed by going door to door to homes throughout his Northridge neighborhood.

“Edwin Isagholian’s efforts to have President Bush honor his campaign pledge on the Armenian Genocide make him part of the great American tradition of citizen activists,” said ANCA-WR Chairman Steven J. Dadaian. “His work and dedication in having over 1,000 postcards signed and sent to President Bush on the Genocide issue makes us proud of Edwin and proud of his school–Ferrahian. We are pleased to award Edwin Isagholian the “Student Hai Tahd” award for the month of March,” the Chairman added.

During the 2000 Presidential Campaign, then-Governor Bush issued the following statement; “The Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies comprehension and commands all decent people to remember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime in a century of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected President, I would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the Armenian people.” Unfortunately, as President, Bush ultimately chose not to use the word genocide in describing the mass slaughter of Armenians from 1915 to 1923.

“I learned about the campaign to have President Bush acknowledge the Armenian Genocide through the ANC’s website – www.anca.org,” commented Isagholian. My attitude was – just do it. The key in politics is to find your own way and not to get knocked off course. So that is what I did with this ANC Postcard Campaign; I found my own way of being involved and refused to get knocked off course. In the end, I am proud that I honored the martyrs and survivors of the Armenian Genocide by raising awareness of their long struggle for justice and recognition,” he added.

Isagholian, who is 16 years old, was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He has been an active member of the Model United Nations Club, where he has engaged in debates on a number of major international topics.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.