Pasadena Unified Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) recognized the beginning of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 1918 with the passage of Resolution 2314 by the PUSD Board of Education at its March 26, 2015 meeting. History teachers are also incorporating meaningful and powerful ways to teach the Armenian Genocide and genocide in general to high school students using the skills and information from the 2013 training provided by the Armenian National Committee of America’s Pasadena Chapter and the Genocide Education Project.

Please see below for a text of Resolution 2314.

BOARD OF EDUCATION
PASADENA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Pasadena, California

Resolution No. 2314

Armenian Genocide of 1915 Commemoration Month
April 2015

This measure would designate the month of April 2015, as “Pasadena Unified School District Month of Commemoration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.”

WHEREAS, during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, 1.5 million men, women, and children of Armenian descendants lost their lives at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in their attempt to systematically eliminate the Armenian race; and

WHEREAS, the genocide of the Armenians constituted one of the most atrocious violations of human rights in the history of the world; and

WHEREAS, despite the overwhelming proof of genocidal intent, the Republic of Turkey has inexplicably and adamantly denied the occurrence of the crimes against humanity committed by the Ottoman and Young Turk rulers; and

WHEREAS, in response to the Genocide and at the behest of the President Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. State Department, the Near East Relief organization was founded and was provided unprecedented complete access to all U.S. Government documents and files concerning the plight of Christian minorities; and

WHEREAS, Near East Relief was the first Congressionally-sanctioned American philanthropic effort created exclusively to rescue the Armenian Nation and other Christian minorities from annihilation after U.S. Ambassador to Constantinople Henry A. Morgenthau, Jr., pled for assistance upon personally witnessing the systematic massacre of Armenians; and

WHEREAS, Near East Relief’s efforts resulted in delivering $117 million of assistance between 1915 and 1930, including the delivery of food, clothing, and materials for shelter, setting up refugee camps, clinics, hospitals, and orphanages; and

WHEREAS, the generous philanthropy of the American people, including many Californians, directly resulted in the salvation of the Armenian and Assyrian refugees nation from being completely annihilated by the Genocide by saving more than one million refugees, including more than 130,000 orphans through their humanitarian assistance; and

WHEREAS, Near East Relief evolved into the Near East Foundation in 1930, and continues to provide humanitarian aid to people throughout the Middle East and Africa; and

WHEREAS, on April 24, 2013, the President of the United States stated, “A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of our interests. Nations grow stronger by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future;” and

WHEREAS, by consistently remembering and forcefully condemning the atrocities committed against the Armenians, and honoring the survivors as well as other victims of similar heinous conduct, we guard against repetition of such acts of genocide and provide the American public with a greater understanding of history; and

WHEREAS, the State of California has been at the forefront of encouraging and promoting a curriculum relating to human rights and genocide in order to empower future generations to prevent recurrence of genocide; and

WHEREAS, the City of Pasadena has a significant Armenian student population, many of whom have family members who experienced first-hand the horror and evil of the Armenian Genocide and the ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, every student and person, regardless of ethnicity or national origin, should be made aware of and educated about the Armenian Genocide so that it and other state-sanctioned forms of ethnic cleansing may never happen again; and

WHEREAS, this measure would provide that the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education deplores the persistent, ongoing efforts by any person in this country or abroad, to deny the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education should continue to provide teacher-training workshops and educational resources about the Armenian Genocide to all its high school social studies teachers and students;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education hereby designates the month of April, as “Pasadena Unified School District Month of Commemoration for the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915” and in doing so will ensure that the Armenian Genocide is properly taught to its faculty, student body, and the community at large; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education recommits itself to engaging teachers in robust discussions about best practices around teaching the subject of genocide and the most effective ways of communicating the important society themes that run through the continuum of genocides of modern history; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Pasadena Unified School District commits itself to working collaboratively with the City of Pasadena Human Relations Commission to engage teachers in human rights education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Pasadena Unified School District reaffirm its commitment to working with the community groups, non-profit organizations and school personnel to ensure that genocide studies remains an important part of the high school social studies curriculum; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, that Pasadena Unified School District in collaboration with the City of Pasadena Human Relations Commission commends its conscientious educators who teach about human rights and genocide; and

PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 26th day of March, 2015, at a regular meeting of the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, Los Angeles County, California.