Paul Rusesabagina, known worldwide as the courageous hotel manager portrayed in the movie "Hotel Rwanda," will speak next week on "Lessons of Hope for a World in Need" and the duty of individuals to respond to moral crises.
Rusesabagina is credited with saving more than 1,000 refugees during the Rwandan genocide, a period of 100 days during which 1 million people died in conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes.
The talk will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, in Page Auditorium. The free, public lecture is the 2007 Crown Lecture in Ethics, sponsored by the Sanford Institute of Public Policy.
Since leaving Rwanda, Rusesabagina has traveled the world with his message of hope, peace, and "never again." He founded the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) which provides support, care, and assistance to children orphaned by, and women abused during, the genocide.
Luxury and Poverty
In a reading done for National Public Radio, Rusesabagina reads an excerpt from An Ordinary Man discussing the economics of luxury hotels in poor African countries. (Real Player required)
He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.
Rusesabagina's autobiography, An Ordinary Man was published in 2006. Previous Crown lecturers at Duke have included former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley; New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman; Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work on banning land mines; and author Doris Kearns Goodwin.
When "Hotel Rwanda" was released in 2005, two Duke Divinity School faculty discussed what we can learn from Rusesabagina's efforts. Click here to read the piece by Rev. Tiffney Marley and Tammy Williams.