Release date: Oct. 11, 2007
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

'Hotel Rwanda' Speaker to Deliver Lecture

WHO: Paul Rusesabagina, subject of the movie "Hotel Rwanda"

WHAT: Eighth Annual "State of Race" panel discussion, sponsored by the Emory College Council

WHEN: 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct 16. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Glenn Memorial Auditorium,

PARKING: Fishburne Deck, 1672 N. Decatur Road

COST: The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are available at the Dobbs Center on campus, 605 Asbury Circle. 404-727-8425.

Emory University's eighth annual "State of Race" event will feature the subject of the movie "Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina ("woo-ses-ah-bah-gee-nah"), who will deliver a lecture in Glenn Memorial Auditorium on "Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to be Learned" at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct 16.

"The purpose of this year's 'State of Race' is to spread awareness about the ongoing human genocides taking place in several African countries, and more specifically what has happened in Rwanda," said Amrit Kapai, Emory College Council vice president of programming. "Having this speaker at Emory will be an effective way to spread awareness regarding this issue and hopefully motivate students to take action."

A "Screen on the Green" of "Hotel Rwanda" will be held at 8 p.m., Monday, Oct. 15 on the Jenkins Courtyard of Goizueta Business School.

Rusesabagina was the assistant manager of Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda, during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Although he was of mixed background, Rusesabagina was considered Hutu and safe from the Hutu militias, which were targeting members of the Tutsi ethnic group. He used the influence and connections of his position to protect more than 1,000 Tutsi civilians from being massacred. An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were murdered before the United Nations intervened.

His autobiography, "An Ordinary Man," was published on the 12th anniversary of the genocide in 2006 and delves into Rusesabagina's personal journey while explaining the history behind Rwanda's Hutu and Tutsi tribes within the historical context of the conflict. He is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.

The annual "State of Race" event seeks to engage the Emory community and beyond in a dialogue on important social and political issues pertaining to race. The event is free and open to the entire Emory community, and free tickets are available to the public.

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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