The Anne Frank Project has earned a special Community Leader Award from the National Federation for Just Communities (NFJC) of Western New York.

Launched in 2009, the conference has brought international speakers, multimedia presentations, and interactive workshops to campus. Sponsored and coordinated by the Theater Department, this symposium grew out of Buffalo State’s 2006 production of The Diary of Anne Frank.

The play dramatically updated Frank’s celebrated story by intertwining the horrors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide with the Holocaust of World War II. Produced and directed by theater professor and chair Drew Kahn, the performance featured two “Annes”: one Jewish and the other Tutsi.

Both the production and the Anne Frank Project were inspired by the personal journey of Immaculée Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. The 2010 conference featured lectures from Ilibagiza and Carl Wilkens, the only American to remain in Kigali, Rwanda, once the massacre began.

In a visit funded by an incentive grant from the Buffalo State College Research Foundation, Kahn and Wilkens are currently in Rwanda touring universities and primary schools to develop relationships for the conference and the department.

Read more about Kahn’s travels and discoveries in Rwanda in his blog.

The Community Leader Award will be presented to the Anne Frank Project at the NFJC’s annual luncheon at noon, Thursday, January 20, at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.