Conference Celebrates the Life and Wisdom of Anne Frank

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On September 15–17, Buffalo State will present the Anne Frank Project 2010: Our Shared Humanity, a gathering of speakers, artists, scientists, and writers, to celebrate the life and wisdom of Anne Frank.

An ongoing awareness initiative founded by the Theater Department to "discover solutions towards an elevated human condition," the Anne Frank Project celebrates Frank's famous words, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Events, including workshops, panel discussions, and theater and dance performances, artistically interpret genocide as a recurring global tragedy.

This year’s featured speakers:

Immaculée Ilibagiza, considered a living example of faith put into action. Ilibagiza's life was transformed dramatically during the 1994 Rwandan genocide where she and seven other women spent 91 days huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house. Immaculée entered the bathroom a vibrant, 115-pound university student with a loving family. She emerged weighing just 65 pounds to find most of her family had been brutally murdered.

Ilibagiza is this year’s Bonnie and Vern L. Bullough Academic Convocation speaker.

Carl Wilkens
was the only American to remain in Kigali, Rwanda, once the genocide began in 1994. As the head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rwanda, he chose to stay and help, preventing the massacre of hundreds of children over the course of the genocide. 

Cherie R. Brown is the founder-executive director of the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), an internationally recognized organization dedicated to diversity training and grassroots leadership. NCBI has trained over 10,000 men, women, and young people to become powerful resources for their communities—combating prejudice, resolving intergroup conflict, and launching activist-based coalitions.

Events are free and take place on the Buffalo State campus. To make reservations, e-mail theannefrankproject@buffalostate.edu.

Related:
Download podcast: Anne Frank Project Opening Ceremony (MP3)

Story: Anne Frank Project Garden Dedicationbr />Download podcast: "Finding Anne Frank in Rwanda: A Diary of Genocide," by Drew Kahn, chair and professor, Theater Department

Media Contact:
Phyllis Camesano, Public Relations Director | 7168784325 | camesapa@buffalostate.edu