The Role of Scholarships in Sustaining Community

By Pouneh Aravand

While president of New York University’s Persian Cultural Society, I would always be fascinated by how seemingly disparate and dispersed New York Iranian-Americans could sporadically unify as a community.   In lectures and panel discussions, shabe-sher poetry nights, Nowruz celebrations, Persian music concerts, protests in solidarity with those in Iran, students, professionals and academics would coalesce into a diverse, albeit unified whole.  What tied us together, our common cultural roots, created a connection that transcending generations, ethnicities, political affiliations, religions and social backgrounds.  Helping to organize and participating in these rare and precious moments was what confirmed to me my cultural identity.  Though I grew up speaking Farsi and frequently visiting Iran, it was really my connections with the Iranian-American Diaspora that propelled my interest in my culture and cultivated my involvement in issues affecting Iran and the Middle East at large.

Scholarship programs for Iranian-American students not only encourage younger generations in their professional and academic endeavors, but also instill and sustain in them a sense of community.  Receiving the Iranian-American Scholarship Fund (IASF) scholarship upon being admitted to Yale Law School was an incredible honor.  It was the first time I was recognized by the Iranian-American community for my achievements and involvement in issues affecting Iranians both here and abroad.  This acknowledgement gave a new and transformative dimension to my work.  That my accomplishments were not only valuable to my personal goals, but were also important and worthy of praise to other members of my community was extremely inspiring and encouraging.    IASF establishes opportunities for Iranian-American professionals and academics, community scholarship funds, and local institutions to support undergraduate and graduate Iranian-American students, creating a nexus where younger generations can be commended for their accomplishments by other members of their community.

IASF also creates links between community leaders and students who are likeminded in their academic and professional interests.  I was granted three scholarships in the names of the late MortezaGheissari, the late M. Ali Aghassi, a former United Nations Diplomat, and Farhang and Parichehr Mehr, the former, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Boston University.  My academic background in Middle Eastern politics, and my experience working at the United Nations in Syria made me a perfect match for my funders, who were able to promote student involvement in fields they are passionate about.

It is vital that the Iranian Diaspora in the U.S., the country that boasts the largest number of Iranians outside of Iran, support its younger members.   I encourage Iranian-Americans to support the efforts of IASF in precluding first and second generation Iranians from becoming removed from their culture.  IASF’s valuable work helps to sustain an Iranian community through its encouragement of the endeavors of our future professionals, academics and activists, while simultaneously fostering their ties to Iranian heritage.