NU-Q dean renews commitment to centering moral clarity in education at Kwibuka29 commemoration

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) students, faculty and staff, along with members of the Education City community, came together for the 29th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda at an NU-Q community event.

The event was organised by the African Students Association at NU-Q and attended by Rwanda's ambassador to Qatar, Igor Marara.

Hosted as part of the annual Kwibuka commemoration where Rwandans and the international

community honour and remember the more than 1mn Tutsi who lost their lives during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the event featured a community screening, speeches by students

under the theme 'Remember, Unite, and Renew', and talks about journalism and its role in

confronting genocide denial and revisionism.

The event began with an address by NU-Q dean and CEO Marwan M Kraidy, in which he renewed the school’s commitment to educating future journalists and leaders to be guided by moral clarity. “We are here today to remember one of the very darkest episodes in recent human history and to stand in solidarity with the great people of Rwanda who, to this day, grapple with the event.”

He added, “We at Northwestern Qatar renew our pledge to educate future journalists, media makers, storytellers and researchers whose excellence shall extend beyond professional competence to moral clarity, so then they may contribute to making sure that all kinds of hatred and discrimination have no place to thrive on earth.”

The event also featured a lecture by Tom Ndahiro, a Rwandan researcher who specialises in

genocide ideology and genocide denial.

Marara talked about the role of universities in combating genocide denialism and revisionism by hosting such events. “I believe there is no better place in which to recall our commitment to fight genocide ideology and the denial of the genocide against the Tutsi," said Marara. “Some institutes of higher learning have been captured in the agenda of spreading revisionist narratives about the

genocide against the Tutsi, and I think it's important that in this setting, we raise awareness about how the denial of genocide and the stalking of hatred is still a reality today,” he added.