NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — California State University, Northridge’s Armenian Studies Program has dedicated a room in honor of educator and philanthropist Zaruhy Sara Chitjian and her parents, Hampartzoum and Ovsanna Chitjian — a family whose life work has deeply enriched Armenian cultural and historical education in Los Angeles and beyond.
The dedication ceremony, held on October 14, began with a ribbon cutting in Sierra Tower Room 404, marking the official unveiling of the Zaruhy Sara Chitjian Room. The space houses the Chitjian family archive, featuring personal letters, photographs, recordings, and artifacts that trace their journey from pre-Genocide Armenia to Mexico City and ultimately Los Angeles.
“This is an opportunity to not only educate students,” said Suren Papken Seropian, one of the event’s organizers, “but also to make these resources accessible to anyone researching the Armenian Genocide and culture.”
The Chitjian family’s story captures a rare transnational narrative. Having fled the aftermath of 1915, Hampartzoum and Ovsanna Chitjian separately found refuge in Mexico before meeting and starting their family. Their collection, now part of CSUN’s Special Collections and Archives, provides a deeply human perspective on survival, memory, and continuity.
“It opens new venues for understanding the Armenian Genocide, humanizing the calamity rather than reducing it to numbers,” said Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program. “It also sheds light on the little-studied Armenian community in Mexico and Armenian-Mexican relations.”
Ellen Jarosz, head of CSUN’s special collections, emphasized the scholarly importance of the archive:
“The Chitjian family’s records offer personal evidence of how individuals experience history — resources that will serve researchers and community members for generations to come.”
Following the dedication, guests gathered in the Whitsett Room of Sierra Hall for dinner and a series of talks. Seropian, who also serves as Senior Director of Development for CSUN’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, reflected on Chitjian’s enduring educational vision:
“Even though the genocide is central to our story, she always advocated that there’s more to us than tragedy — that we have a 2,000-year-long history of art, thought, and resilience.”
Today, Armenians make up nearly 10% of CSUN’s student body, one of the highest concentrations of Armenian students in the United States. Through her teaching and philanthropy — including a bequest of two-thirds of her estate to CSUN — Zaruhy Sara Chitjian ensured that future generations will continue to learn, study, and preserve the Armenian story.
Read the original announcement on CSUN’s newsroom here.
