07/09/2026
Roots that run deep. A future that reaches high.
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian addressed the 8th-grade graduating class at the Armenian Sisters Academy, Radnor, PA, honoring the school's graduating class and the generations of dedication that made this moment possible.
"Rising high because your roots run so deep."
From Saint Gregory the Illuminator to the battles of Avarayr and Sardarabad, to the classrooms of the Armenian Sisters Academy — Hamparian reminded graduates that they are the latest link in an unbroken chain. That the Armenian tradition of faith, service, and sacrifice is not history to be studied, but a living inheritance to be carried forward.
"This sacred space has given you something far more important than the HOW of life. It has given you the WHY of life."
Hai Tahd is only as strong as the generations we invest in.
Congratulations to the Armenian Sisters Academy Class of 2026.
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The full text of Hamparian's remarks below:
TSERK TSERKI DVADZ -- Hand in Hand.
SIRDEH SIRD -- Heart to Heart
UNDANIKEH UNDANIK -- Family to Family
SEROONTEH SEROONT -- Generation to Generation
Our journey continues.
MER HYGAGAN JANABARUH GUH SHARONGNAGVEE.
I say this – knowing my words will fail - must surely fail - to meet this moment.
Thankfully, you already know – in your hearts - all that I might today aim to share.
In ways, in wisdom, that words cannot fully express.
For you’ve travelled this road.
As parents and grandparents – heirs to a great civilization – now passing the torch.
As students, raising that torch – lighting the way.
This is as it has always been. As it should be.
A sacred embrace.
A solemn trust.
An unbroken chain.
INCHBES MISHD
You know the names of those who came before us, who have walked this path.
Paved the way for us today.
-- Saint Gregory the Illuminator
KRIKOR LOOSAVORICH
-- Our Saints of Vartanantz
MER VARTANANTZEE SOORPERUH
-- Soorp Mesrob Mashdots
They built, and they inspired and they served and they taught. And sometimes they fought.
YERPEMEN GRVETSIN, BAYKARETSIN.
At Avarayr.
Sardarabad.
In Artsakh.
We are today the latest link in this chain.
AYS SOORP SHGHTAYIN NERGAH OGHAGUH:
Each of us - each in our own way – called to fight our own personal battle of Avarayr.
To maintain our identity.
To keep our faith.
To ensure our future.
It was our great Khrimian Hyrig who wrote, in his poem: Murmurs of a Patriot:
"Vartan Fell and Armenia Arose."
Today it is our graduates’ turn to rise.
To take their place in the proud story of our people – to accept the responsibilities that come with their blessings.
That is the timeless spirit of service and sacrifice that has helped us persevere through long - often dark years - under the Persians and Parthians, Ottomans and Arabs, Romans and Russians.
That is the spirit of the devotion that you have to one another - to your teachers and your friends.
To our history.
MER BADMOOTYAN
To our homeland.
MER HAYRENIKEEN
To our future.
MER ABAKAYIN
I say this to stress that it has been a long national journey that has brought us to this point.
To June of 2026.
To this place.
To your graduation from the Armenian Sisters Academy.
To the end of one of your life's journeys and the start of another.
Just as you will decide what comes next in your life, so too will you help define our Armenian future.
And, you enter this new adventure well prepared:
-- Because of your excellent education here, you are better prepared to succeed in the schools and the scholarship of your future.
-- Because of your Armenian experience, you are better positioned to appreciate the diversity of all cultures, and to value the contributions all peoples bring to the table of nations.
-- And it is because of your upbringing in the Armenian tradition - one that values freedom and justice - that you better understand our civic responsibilities as Americans.
That it is not the American way to sit down or turn away when we see injustice, but rather to stand up and set things right.
-- You will be the ones to bridge divides and build anew - here in America and between our Diaspora and homeland.
-- You will be the ones, in the words of William Saroyan, who will "create a new Armenia."
SDEGHDZEL NOR HAYASDAN MUH.
You are our ambassadors to the world.
The authors of our destiny.
MER AZKEE TESBANNERUH
MER JAGADAKIRUH
You are, of course, inheriting a very different community from the one your parents or grandparents lived in.
But, one still driven by love of heritage. Devotion to homeland.
One built upon service and sacrifice - the spirit that sustains the Sisters Academy.
You will honor your heritage - your family and your school - not simply by keeping to the path, but by charting a new one.
That, truly, will be a great test of your fidelity and faith.
The re-invention of our community and our cause for the future, for "what's next."
For what’s over the horizon.
You will meet this test - answer the challenges of your age - rising high because your roots run so deep.
And, so – let me, in closing, share these final words:
- Hand in hand.
- Heart to heart.
- Generation to generation
As you go forth – into high school, your college years, and beyond – you will continue to learn all about the HOW of life.
The nuts and bolts of 21st Century living.
In arts or engineering, medicine, business, law or any other field.
- How to earn a living.
- How to solve problems.
Some as old as time – others that your generation will solve for the very first time.
- Basically, how to navigate a changing world.
But, my dear graduates, consider yourselves blessed.
Because this sacred space has given you something far more important than the HOW of life.
It has given you the WHY of life.
A North Star – to guide you
In good times and bad – in darkness and in light.
When the path is clear.
And when it is not.
-- Why faith matters.
-- Why family matters
-- Why service matters.
-- Why our heritage matters.
-- Why – each of you matters.
To God.
To each other.
To your families.
To this sacred school.
To our blessed community.
And to the Armenian nation.
SHNORHAGALUTYUN.
