Dickinson College President Margee Ensign Is Featured Expert at International Conference in Rwanda
Photo by Carl Socolow ’77
More than 400 scholars, survivors and NGO, government and military leaders to attend
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
President Margee Ensign will take part in an international conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. A leading voice in intercultural and global education and global social justice issues, and an author of a book on the Rwandan response to genocide, Ensign is one of very few Americans invited to participate in the conference, held in Kigali, Rwanda, April 4-5.
The Kwibuka 25 (“Remember 25”) Kigali International Conference, "Preserving Memory, Championing Humanity," provides an opportunity to learn about the 1994 Rwanda genocide, honor the memory of the more one million victims and recount lessons learned for present and future generations. More than 400 genocide scholars, policymakers, thought-leaders, NGO leaders, government and military officials and survivors are expected to attend.
Ensign will participate in an April 5 panel discussion, “Choosing Humanity in the Face of Inhumanity,” along with Jean-François Dupaquier, investigative journalist; Maj. Gen. Charles Karamba, Rwanda Air Force chief of staff; Jean-Paul Kimonyo, of the Office of the President of Rwanda; Charles Petrie, former U.N. assistant secretary general and former U.N. deputy humanitarian; and moderator Emmanuel Nibishaka, secretary general, National Commission for Human Rights. The multiday commemoration concludes April 7 with a wreath laying at Kigali Genocide Memorial, a Walk to Remember from the Kigali Parliament building to Amahoro National Stadium, a national remembrance ceremony and a night vigil.
Ensign, who has served as Dickinson’s 29th president since 2017, is nationally and internationally recognized for her pioneering work in higher education and social justice and for widely published work focusing on international development and the implications of development assistance. She is co-author, with William E. Bertrand, of Rwanda: History and Hope (University Press America 2010), which focuses on the innovative path Rwanda has taken in governance and reconciliation, gender equity, education, health and economic growth in the wake of one of the worst genocides of the past century; co-editor of Confronting Genocide in Rwanda; and author of Images and Behavior of Private Bank Lending and Japan’s Foreign Aid: Doing Good or Doing Well?.
Ensign also is founder of Dickinson’s leading-edge intercultural competency programming; co-founder of the Adamawa Peace Initiative, a response to escalating violence in Boko Haram; and past president of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), where she established a school for women who escaped their Boko Haram captors. Her career additionally has included leadership roles at Columbia University in New York City, Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
"Dr. Ensign has been a relentless friend of Rwanda, standing with our nation through grief and growth, and it is only befitting and an honor to have her joining us on this solemn occasion as we remember our loved ones, 25 years since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi," said Mathilde Mukantabana, Rwandan ambassador to the United States. "Her presence is of great significance as we enter into a new era, one of sustained renewal and of continued resiliency in a more unified nation. The invitation to her is also an opportunity for our country to express our deep gratitude and appreciation to the friends who have selflessly accompanied us on the road to recovery and healing."
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Published April 2, 2019