California: 23.10.2019
On October 23, 2019, in a very impressive ceremony, University of Califorina at Riverside, California formally inaugurated the Shrimad Rajchandra Endowed Chair in Jainism. This ceremony was attended by the University faculty, officials and the Jain Community. Attached is a news release of this ceremony.
Dr. Ana Bajzelj is the occupant of this Chair.
Following academic positions funded by the Jain community have been filled and are now functioning. Their formal inauguration ceremonies will be scheduled early next year.
Bhagwan Parshvanath Presidential endowed Chair at University of California at Irvine
Dr. Brianne Donaldson; Chair holder
Mohini Jain Endowed Presidential Chair at University of California at Davis
Dr. Lynna Dhanani, Chair Holder
Bhagwan Mallinath Endowed Professorship at Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Christopher Miller, Professorship holder
Bhagwan Vimalnath Lectureship at University of Califorina at Santa Barbara, CA
Dr. Shivani Bothra, Position holder
Bhagwan Shantinath Program at California State University, Fullerton, CA
Mr. Andrew Bridges, Position holder
Jain Chair at UC Riverside is the fastest Chair that Jain Community has orchestrated in Southern California from initial feasibility study to actual hiring of the Chair! It was a very joyous occasion as we celebrated the inauguration of first Chair “Shrimad Rajchandra Endowed Chair in Jain Studies” at University of California, Riverside (UCR) on 23rdOctober 2019. Associate Professor Mrs. Ana Bajzelj is the incumbent occupant of the chair. Around 75 people gathered at UCR for the event.The ceremony began with Navkar Mantra prayer by Samani Chaitanya Pragya and Samani Him Pragya, who specially travelled from Florida International University in Miami for this celebration. Senior Director of Development Emily Rankin then invited Dr. Sulekh Jain who had flown in from Houston for the occasion to give history of Jain Academic education in North America and the chronology of events of Jain Chair at UCR. He mentioned that Dr. Harvinder Sahota and Dr. Pashuara Singh who is the Chair of Religious Studies at UCR encouraged him to discuss with the Dean Milagrosa Pena of School of Humanities, Arts and Social Science about Jain Chair. Dean Pena, Emily Rankin, and others visited Jain Center of Southern California (JCSC) and met with the Jain community. Seeds were planted then for further discussions. Two donor families Mr. Mahesh & Usha Wadher and Drs. Jasvant and Meera Modi took the pledge to raise $ 1 Million required to establish the Chair. Mr. Vijay and MadhuChheda, Mr. Dilip and Sushama Parekh and others have also contributed. JCSC, Shrimad Rachandra Mission Dharampur and Jain Temple of Los Angeles were involved in helping gather necessary funds.
Next, JAINA PresidentMr. Mahesh Wadher spoke on behalf of donors and gave significance of Jain chair in spreading of Jain principles.
He also gave a brief about who Shrimad Rajchandra was and his influence on Mahatma Gandhi in following the path of Non-Violence. He also appreciated the blessings of GurudevshriRakeshbhai who has been guiding his family with Shrimad Rajchandra’steachings about Jainism.
He was very appreciative of UCR for their generosity to establish a Jain Chair. He believed that Jain teachings are very important in present day and age to curb the violence in the world.
Chair Ana Bajzelj spoke about the progress made after she started at UCR and presented the first Shrimad Rajchandra award to an undergraduate student, Austin Attaway.
Chancellor Wilcox then took the podium and spoke about the importance of diversity in the university and how critical it is to be able to offer different religious perspectives to students. JAINA presented a plaque to UC Riverside recognizing their generosity that was accepted by Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. All had several group pictures after the speeches.
The event ended with a sumptuous dinner catered by Jaybharat of Jain Vegan food.
The Jain community is thrilled and all look forward to great progress in Jain teachings to mainstream American students with the help of Shrimad Rajchandra Endowed Chair Ana Bajzelj.
JAINA presented a plaque to UC Riverside recognizing their generosity that was accepted by Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox
Group Picture
JAINA President Mr. Mahesh Wadher spoke on behalf of donors and gave significance of Jain chair in spreading of Jain principles
A group Photo With Samani Chaitanya Pragya and Samani Him Pragya