Duke Students Lead Genocide Remembrance Effort
Four April events at Duke will commemorate 20th and 21st Century genocides
Four events that commemorate 20th and 21st Century genocides will be held at Duke University during April, which is Genocide Awareness Month.
Duke's Coalition for Preserving Memory (CPM), a student-run group, has coordinated with student groups, faculty and campus organizations to host the events, which are open to the public.
The events begin at 6 p.m. Sunday April 6 -- Rwandan Genocide Awareness Day -- with an opening ceremony in the Divinity School's York Room that features Rwandan genocide survivor and LGBT rights advocate Daniel Trust. A name-reading ceremony for those killed in the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago will follow, outside Duke Chapel.
At 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 7, the group will host a panel discussion and dinner focusing on the importance and implications of the collective memory of genocide. Panelists at the Sanford School of Public Policy event include William Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin professor of history; Jehanne Gheith, associate professor of Slavic and Eurasian studies; and Patrick Stawski, Rubenstein Collection human rights archivist.
CPM Music Night, a musical showcase highlighting humanity's ability to preserve its culture in the worst of times, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at Baldwin Auditorium. Featured artists include Noah Stewart, a tenor who reached No. 1 on the UK Classical charts; student musicians Eugene Rabinovich and DeShaun King; United in Praise; and Duke professors.
The series of events will conclude with the opening of a new art exhibit consisting of six student groups' mixed media perspectives on six recent genocides -- the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, Cambodia and Armenia -- starting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 14, in the Bryan Center Brown Gallery. _ _ _ _
The Coalition for Preserving Memory is a student-run and founded organization that is dedicated to memorializing genocide victims for the 20th and 21st centuries in a way that will be relevant and meaningful for future generations. The organization aims to form a coalition of groups across Duke’s campus to foster a community that remembers humanity at its worst in order to inspire humanity at its best.