UNC alumni and donors Vance L. Horner II ’92 and Shaida Jarrahi Horner ’93, MAC’94 have established the Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series Endowment at the University Library.
Their initial commitment in late 2013 will create a permanent endowment to fund a series of free public programs at the Library related to Persian studies, history, and culture. Speakers will be established scholars who will also meet with faculty and students in informal settings.
In 2012, members of the Horner and Jarrahi family also created the Jarrahi Family Library Fund for Persian Studies in honor of Dr. Carl Ernst. This endowment provides sustained library support for Persian studies and was the first endowment of this kind established for Persian studies.
“The Persian culture and community have had a profound impact on our lives,” said Shaida Jarrahi Horner. “Creating a permanent endowment to allow others to learn about such a rich history and culture was something importnat for us and our children to do.”
An endowment is a permanent fund, invested for both growth and income. Endowments like the Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series Endowment provide a stable source of income upon which the Library can depend.
The Library is actively building collections to support the Persian studies program at UNC. Undergraduate enrollment in Persian language and culture courses has increased dramatically in the last several years. At the graduate level, UNC is one of the few U.S. universities to offer a Ph.D. in Islamic studies with a strong emphasis on Persian.
The Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series Endowment is one of four Library endowments in Persian Studies to be created since 2012. In addition to building permanent endowment, the Library seeks donations of books and cash gifts to support Persian studies. A wish list indicates the most urgently needed items.
The impact of gifts such as The Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series Endowment extends far beyond UNC. Through cooperative agreements, the faculty and students of nearby Duke, North Carolina Central, and North Carolina State universities consult and borrow UNC Library materials. UNC Library collections and programs are also accessible to scholarly visitors and members of the general public.
You may make a tax-deductible contribution online in support of the Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series Endowment by following this direct link: give.unc.edu. Or, send a check, payable to Friends of the Library, UNC-Chapel Hill noting the fund name to: UNC-Chapel Hill, P.O. Box 309, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0309.
For more information about the Library’s Persian studies collection and ways to support it, contact the University Libraries Development Office.
