Climate of Human Rights Activism

The Amnesty International Lewis and Clark University Club is hosting a speaker event on Monday, February 12th at 5:30 in Miller 105. The speakers will be Carl Wilkens and Michael Graham. Short biographies are listed below:

Carl Wilkens, a humanitarian and aid worker, refused to leave Rwanda when genocide broke out in 1994. The only American to remain in the country, Carl braved gunfire and machetes to bring food, water, and medicine to groups of orphans around the city. Carl has since dedicated himself full time to accepting the invitations of schools around the U.S. He and his wife Teresa have formed an educational nonprofit, World Outside My Shoes, that empowers people to stand up against genocide and intolerance.

Michael Graham has spent the last four years working in Kabul, Afghanistan and Washington, DC on international development oversight. Prior to that he worked for the Center for Genocide Prevention at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He holds a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and graduated from Lewis & Clark College in 2006.

A former president of the Lewis & Clark Amnesty International Club, in 2004 Graham established the Romeo Dallaire Scholarship, which brings a Rwandan student to Lewis & Clark College on a full ride scholarship each academic year. This scholarship has since been adapted for other colleges around the country, including Texas Christian University, where Rwandan students are supported by the Carl and Teresa Wilkens Award.

The talk will be an engaging dialogue on the climate of human rights activism in our modern day and will discuss many ways students can make an impact with the resources available to them. We hope to see you there!