The Weeknd Donated for Ethiopian Studies in Toronto. The internationally Renowned Artist The Weeknd donated $30,000 to the Ethiopian Studies program at the University of Toronto, the only one of its kind in North America .
ታዋቂው የግራሚ አዋርድ ተሸላሚ አቤል ተስፋዬ ዘዊኬንድ ለቶሮንቶ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የ ኢትዬጽያ ጥናት ማእከል ተጨማሪ የ 30 ሺ ዶላር እገዛ አደረገ።
የገንዝዘብ ድጋፉ በቶሮንቶ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የ ግእዝ ትምህርት ያለማቋረጥ ለመስጠት ያግዛል ።
የዘዊኬንድ ወላጆች ሳምራዊት ሐይሉ እና ዋለልኝ ተሾመ ከ ቢቂላ ሽልማት ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ ተሰማ ሙሉጌታ የቦርድ አባሉ በሀይሉ አጥናፉ እና ፕሮፌሰር ጀርቨርስ ጋር በመሆን እርዳታውን አስረክበዋል::
According to a news release by the University, the donation will enable the program to offer Ge’ez language, an ancient Ethiopian language, each year.
The Weeknd, who was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 also made $50,000 donations to the program in 2016. That donation was part of the fundraising drive by Bikila Award- an Ethiopian Canadian organization that fosters academic and business excellence and encourages volunteerism — to galvanize its community to support the new endowment.
Through the gift from the Toronto native Abel Tesfaye, the program surpassed its goal of $500,000.
“Our heartfelt thanks to The Weeknd for his ongoing commitment to Ethiopic studies at U of T,” said Professor Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “This gift means the endowment celebrates a significant fundraising milestone. For us, it signifies an important partnership with the Ethiopian Canadian community, one we hope to continue to grow. We share a vision and an understanding of the value in preserving the Ge’ez language. The impact of The Weeknd’s continued support is truly appreciated, for current and future faculty, students and alumni.”
Tessema Mulugeta, president of Bikila, called it “a pivotal moment in our history here in Toronto” while recently presenting The Weeknd’s cheque, together with board member Behailu Atnafu and The Weeknd’s parents, Ms. Samrawit Hailu and Mr. Walelegne Teshome, to Dean Woodin on a fall day at Arts & Science.
Ethiopic studies at U of T launched three years ago with a course on Ge’ez, an ancient language in Ethiopia used primarily for liturgical Christian services. Currently, U of T is the only university in North America, and one of the very few universities in the world, that regularly offers a course on Ge’ez. It’s part of the Semitic group of languages, including Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic, and is no longer spoken in Ethiopia but remains a fundamental language for classical studies, such as Latin and Greek.
Professor Michael Gervers, Bikila Award president Tessema Mulugeta, Bikila board member Behailu Atnafu, The Weeknd’s parents Walelegne Teshome and Samrawit Hailu presented the donations to the A&S Dean Melanie Woodin.
With News release from the University of Toronto
Photos from U of T
