March 20, 2006

Survivors to Discuss Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Ambassador, UN official join March 30 public forum

FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE — Two survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide will discuss the lasting impact of the mass killings at a public forum on Thursday, March 30, at 11:00 a.m. on Nova Southeastern University’s main campus.

Now United States residents, Mr. Aimable Munya and Ms. Marie Josee Murekatete are Tutsis, the tribe which suffered more than 90 percent of the deaths during the 100-day slaughter which left more than 800,000 people dead.

They will be joined by Rwandan Ambassador Zac Nsenga, United Nations Representative Jose M. Da Silva Campino, and NSU faculty members in roundtable discussion and town hall meeting, “Genocide in the 21st Century: Colloquium on Rwandan Genocide.” The program was the brainchild of NSU student Careen Hutchinson, a senior majoring in psychology, who said she was prompted to action after watching the film Hotel Rwanda.

The events which led up to the mass killings will form the basis for a discussion on cross- and intra-cultural conflict resolution, and hopefully serve as a catalyst for a community-wide search for solution strategies, Hutchinson said.

Discussion moderator will be NSU Professor Julia Chaitin, Ph.D., who has published extensively on the psycho-social impact of the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Chaitin will be joined by Drs. Jean-Mathieu Essoh Essis and David Kilroy. Essis holds a Ph.D. in public policy and has published on international negotiation processes and issues, conflict resolution and public policy, and democratization and public sector reform in Africa. Kilroy, PhD., is a professor of history in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.

“Genocide in the 21st Century: Colloquium on Rwandan Genocide” was organized by a cross-disciplinary panel of NSU faculty and staff members. The committee members were Hutchinson; Professors Chaitin and Essis, faculty members in Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Delores M. Smiley, Ed.D., dean of Diversity and Community Affairs in the Fischler School of Education and Human Services; Terry Morrow, assistant director of Student Activities and Leadership Development; and Kimberly Felix, coordinator of employee services in the Fischler School of Education and Human Services.

The program is presented in collaboration with NSU’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services, Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development. For information, call 954-262-7852 or 954-262-7294.