By Ruth SOWBY

Dozens of Glendale Community College (GCC) students received thousands of dollars in scholarships on a chilly early evening on Friday, May 24. Adding to the scholarships that were delivered earlier, a total of $348,000 in scholarships was awarded to 526 GCC students. Over 200 donors, students, parents, GCC teachers and administrators were seated in the outdoor Plaza Vaquero on campus for the GCC 2024 Honors & Awards Banquet. Since the weather turned out to be chilly, heaters were rushed in at the last minute. But that didn’t stop the applause as each scholarship recipient was announced.  

Elin Gharibian, president of the Associated Students of GCC, one of the event’s sponsoring organizations, welcomed her audience. Introductions were made by Dr. Ryan Cornner, GCC superintendent/president. Although Student Affairs dean Dr. Tzoler Oukayan asked the audience to hold their applause until all scholarship sponsors and recipients had been announced, supporters couldn’t contain their enthusiasm and applauded after each name.   

Among the scholarships of note was a $25,000 scholarship by the Golden Globe Foundation-Filmmaker. The recipients were Hayk Atshemyan and Anna-Kath Vasak. The John and Gael Davitt scholarships were given to Alexa Mirzaian and Askanaz Sahakyan. Dr. Davitt was GCC superintendent/ president for many years. 

The Geraldine Manus Anson Memorial Scholarship was presented to Aleksandr Sushentsov, a second year student from Russia. He is majoring in business administration and plans to transfer to a four-year university followed by law school. Sushentsov won a green card in the lottery to live in the U.S. He, his wife and 2-year old daughter have lived in Glendale for two years.