At a time when the world was silent, Paul Rusesabagina listened.

Rusesabagina opened the doors to the hotel he managed in Rwanda when genocide broke out in 1994. Many nations, including the United States, turned away from the Rwandans’ pleas for help, but Rusesabagina single-handedly sheltered more than 1,200 people. He was portrayed by Don Cheadle in the Academy Award-nominated film ‘Hotel Rwanda’ and will address his experiences tonight at 8 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

The event, titled ‘Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to be Learned,’ is long anticipated, said Clarence Cross, co-director of University Union Speakers.

‘We actually wanted to have him speak last semester, but he was completely booked,’ Cross said. ‘This is his last speaking date this semester, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Syracuse University students.’

The nature of Rusesabagina’s speech was one of the deciding factors in UU Speakers decision to bring him to SU, Cross said.

‘We get speakers like Rob Corddry (of The Daily Show), who are humorous, and that was a great event,’ Cross said. ‘However, Rusesabagina has a strong message of hope and encouragement, and it’s going to be an amazing speech.’

Among other things, Cross said he expects Rusesabagina to discuss cultural identity in relation to contemporary issues.

In Rwanda, the Interahamwe militia, composed of Hutus, sought to kill Tutsis. Rusesabagina is both Hutu and Tutsi, and his wife is Tutsi, so the couple could not flee the country with their children. They faced an abundance of hardships living in the Hotel des Mille Collines, eventually surviving the 900,000-person massacre.

For his work, Rusesabagina has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Senior geography and international relations major Paul Ronan has traveled to Uganda and said people often overlook the struggles Africans face.

‘This isn’t an isolated event-there are also problems in northern Uganda and the Darfur region of Sudan,’ Ronan said. ‘Sometimes we are so preoccupied with our own lives that it becomes easy to forget what is happening in the rest of the world.’

The Rwandan genocide was a profoundly devastating event, Cross said, but it can also help students and faculty develop a greater appreciation for history.

‘We need to realize that we are all interconnected and should be advocates for each other,’ Cross said. ‘Hopefully people will walk away from this event thinking, ‘Wow, I have the power to change the world.”

Published on December 5, 2005 at 12:00 pm