ASA United, a coalition of undergraduate Armenian student organizations across North America, has launched its showcase edition of “The ASA Compass,” a magazine which pledges to highlight Diasporan Armenian student writing and artwork. The Compass editorial team is completely composed of volunteers, all of whom are either current students or recent graduates.
“It was important for us to see this project through,” said co-editor-in-chief Ani Arzoumanian, a recent graduate of Colgate University. “What started as just an idea many years ago has finally come to fruition in such a beautiful way.”
Arzoumanian founded ASA United in July of 2020 with co-founder Levon Brunson. “ASA United came together by accident, at a time when passionate Diasporan Armenian students were uniting to fundraise for Artsakh just before the war started,” Arzoumanian said. “However, it didn’t just end when the war ended. Instead, we decided that connecting and empowering the individual ASA chapters within our organization was worth pursuing during peace, too, so that we could continue our efforts to support the Armenian cause.”
The ASA Compass, Winter 2023 edition, was published online Saturday. Contributors and their works will additionally be highlighted on The ASA Compass Instagram account.
Co-editor-in-chief Arpa Boghozian, a recent UC Davis graduate, explained that the submission guidelines for the magazine were deliberately made open-ended in order to inspire a diverse array of topics and genres. “Despite this effort on our part, the theme of the magazine unintentionally centered around the pain of witnessing the 2020 Artsakh war, through a variety of lenses. Yet, undeterred by the sadness and gravity of this theme, The Compass still highlights the resilience of the Armenian people.”
Elen Arustamyan, a freshman at Pepperdine University and a current member of ASA United’s Central Executive Board, joined the editorial team as the multimedia manager. “Part of the success of the magazine is our ability to reach diverse audiences, so managing our presence online and on social media becomes a key part of this campaign,” Arustamyan explained. “It was also important for us to highlight our wonderful contributors individually, which is something we’ll be doing on our social media.”
The ASA Compass Winter 2023 editorial staff additionally includes Aram Brunson, Nareg Kuyumjian, Artyom Martirosyan, Elen Nersisyan, Nayiri Sagherian, and Jessica Sargsian.
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