President attends solemn session of the Scientific Council of the Armenian-Russian University

President Serzh Sargsyan attended today a solemn session of the ARU Scientific Council on the 20th anniversary of the Armenian-Russian University.

The President of Armenia warmly congratulated the administration of the university, the faculty and students on the jubilee and wished them success. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Armenian-Russian University, Serzh Sargsyan awarded a number of representatives of university professors with high State awards for significant contribution to the development of science and education.

“From the very first years of its establishment, the University became one of the best among our higher education institutions. I think we must once again recall Levon Mkrtchyan of blessed memory, the first rector of the University, who went a long way towards keeping up the Armenian-Russian friendship throughout the new era. He was not just the advocate, but also the developer of that idea, and I think the foundation of the Armenian-Russian University crowned his activity.

I am glad that the University strengthened, matured and continues to be among the best universities in Armenia. I am glad that the University boasts students in quest of knowledge, competent faculty, skilled and experienced professional and political leadership. I used to work with many of those present here and have an insider’s understanding of those hardships faced over time.

You know, to my mind at least three factors should be taken into consideration in assessing a higher education institution’s activities? First, we need to understand what kind of citizens the graduates of a university are going to become; how much they feel themselves bound to the Motherland and, finally, how modern thinking they have.

The second factor, in my opinion, is what the graduate of the university will do after leaving the institution. Have they set themselves the task of finding a job or do they have enough knowledge to find one under today’s conditions? And the third factor is, of course, what kind of scientific activity the professorial staff is doing.

I feel that all of these three factors are present at your University considering that the ARU has a peculiarity, which as strange as it may seem at first glance, is the preservation of the Armenian identity. How strange it may seem to many, but the ARU is contributing to the preservation of the Armenian identity, since every year more than 200 of our compatriots living in Russia come to study at this university. I can state confidently that most of them get linked to Armenia, many of them remember their roots and then all the way through their lives they feel themselves as full Russian citizens and Armenians. This is an extremely important mission for the University.

I want to once again congratulate all of you and assure you that we will do our utmost to ensure that the ARU remains among the best Armenian universities so that when we will be celebrating its 50th anniversary say in 20-30 years, we can say that we were small, we were weak, but today we are strong, we are good and we are all endeavoring not only to raise a citizen, spread knowledge, but also to strengthen the Armenian-Russian friendship, because this university is obviously one of the best examples of cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation,” the President said in his congratulatory remarks.

In anticipation of the solemn session of the ARU Academic Council, the President of Armenia, accompanied by the Yerevan Mayor, the Minister of Education and Science, the Rector of the University and the RF Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia, toured the Armenian-Russian University to get acquainted with the premises and the amenities available for providing modern and quality education.

The process of construction of the new building of the Armenian-Russian University and the ARU-affiliated “Learning” high school’s activities were introduced to President Serzh Sargsyan during the tour.