Hai Guin Awards Four Scholarships

The Hai Guin Scholarship Association recently announced the recipients of its annual scholarships for the 2008-09 school year. After careful deliberation by the scholarship committee, this year’s recipients were chosen for their academic excellence, Armenian heritage, need, and community involvement. They are Melissa Diranian of Arlington, Mass. (a finance, marketing, and business major at Babson College), Michael Morel of Methuen, Mass. (a communication studies and political science major at Merrimack College), Garen Chiloyan of Watertown, Mass., (a chemistry major at Northeastern University), and Christina Buchter of Winchester, Mass. (a veterinary student at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine).

Since 1947 the Hai Guin Scholarship Association has awarded over $130,000 in scholarship aid to deserving students of Armenian heritage. In addition to the scholarship program, which awards each recipient with $2,000, the organization gives awards of excellence in Armenian studies to Boston area public schools, supports students at the St. Tarkmanchatz School in Jerusalem, and donates to the Armenian Sisters’ Academy in Lexington, Mass. and the St. Stephen’s Armenian Day School in Watertown, Mass.

To fund its endeavors, the organization hosts its annual luncheon and event. This year’s show will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington, Mass., on May 9 at 11:30 a.m., when “Hai Guin Goes Broadway,” featuring actress, singer, and pianist Meryl Galaid. Tickets for this event are $50 per person and can be purchased by contacting Yerchanig Callan at (508) 520-1424 or Pamela Gechijian at (978) 369-4004.

Applicants for the Hai Guin Scholarship must be permanent Massachusetts residents attending college in Massachusetts and should have completed their freshman year. Applications for the 2009-2010 Hai Guin Scholarship can be obtained by writing to the organization at Hai Guin Scholarship Association, PO Box 509, Belmont, MA 02478-0004, Attn: Scholarship Chair. The deadline for all completed applications is Oct. 25, 2009.