RWANDA:A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF WILLIAM PENN UNIVERSITY DR. ANN.M.FIELDS

By Theogene Rudasingwa 

Dr. Rudasingwa Theogene

Dr. Ann.M. Fields
President
William Penn University
201 Trueblood Avenue
Oskaloosa, IA 52577

8 May, 2012

Dear Dr. Fields,

Re: HONORING PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME

This coming weekend you will be honoring the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame with an honorary doctorate.

While it is the right and priviledge of William Penn University to bestow honors upon individuals that it considers distinguished in one way or another, I would like to add my voice to many others who have written and called your office to protest the very act of honoring President Paul Kagame. I have attached copy of a recent open letter we wrote to all members of the US Congress on the state of governance in Rwanda entittled, “Open Letter to All Members of the US Congress on the State of Governance in Rwanda and U.S Policy on Rwanda ( February 2012)”. I believe the letter gives a comprehensive and unflattering view point as to why President Paul Kagame should not be honored by William Penn University, particularly for the reasons that have been made to the general public.

Like many others, I now understand that William Penn University is founded on the Quaker principles of a common and shared humanity, social justice, the liberating effects of knowledge, gender equality, peace, the Christian ideal of love, and taking a principled stand against persecution even if this is against a few. Such ideals motivated the founding fathers of the Quaker movement, like George Fox, and men like William Penn in whose name your institution is proud to grace. Furthermore, like other universities in history, your institution works to improve humankind’s quest for knowledge, governance, and conduct. This is why leadership stands at the core of your activities.

In honoring President Paul Kagame, may I suggest that I do not see whatsoever how this act adds value to what your institutions stands for. Paul Kagame was once my comrade-in-arms. I have served with him in the violent revolution that brought him to power, unfortunately at a high price of a civil war and genocide. I have served as the Secretary General of his ruling Rwandese Patriotic Front. I have served as his Government’s Ambassador to the United States. I have been his Chief of Staff at his Presidency.

I am a Tutsi whose family members and relatives have suffered the horrors of genocide and previous human rights abuses. I am also a witness to grave human rights abuses that have been committed against the Hutu, and continue to this day, by President Paul Kagame and a few from what he now calls his army and party. In short, I am no stranger to President Kagame’s corrupt and absolutist rule, of which I was once one of its principal advocates.

His rule in Rwanda clearly is everything contrary to the Quaker principles and the very foundation on which William Penn University stands. By honoring a man who is distinguished in his ruthless persecution of Rwandan people, William Penn University will be taking a stand on the wrong side of history, unfortunately departing from tradition. With President Kagame on one side, and the Rwandan oppressed, dying, imprisoned and poor on the other side, you have chosen the side of deadly and corrupt power. The choice is not only a betrayal of Rwandan people, but also of generations of Quakers who stood against injustice against all odds, and the entire community of William Penn University that promotes justice for all and human solidarity.

The choice is entirely yours. The consequences are not. The event will come to pass but its footprint will live for ever as an unnecessary and self-inflicted stain on William Penn University.

With warmest regards,

Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa
E-mail: ngombwa@gmail.com

COPY:

ADMINISTRATION

John Ottosson, Executive Vice President, Student Services & Enrollment
Bonnie Johnson, Vice President of Financial Operations
Greg Hafner, Vice President for Athletics, Athletic Director
Steven C. Noah, Vice President for Government Relations, Outreach & Special Projects
Dr. Noel Stahle, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Academic Dean
Sherri L. Taylor, Vice President for Advancement
Dr. Marjorie Welch, Dean of the College for Working Adults
Judy Williams, Faculty Representative, Assistant Professor of Applied Computer Science

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

David Ahmad, Edward Jones, Financial Advisor
Ryan Bhattacharyya (‘01), President, WPU Alumni Association
PREMAC Wealth Management Services, President
Ronald Bryan, Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends, General Superintendent
Joe Crookham, Musco Corporation, President and CEO
Kaye DeLange, Cargill, Inc., Facility Manager
Carl Drost, Drost Equipment Inc., Owner and President
Jerry Ellis (‘60), Arthur Anderson, Director and Chair Audit Committee (Retired)
Dr. Ann Fields, William Penn University, President
General Tommy Franks, U.S. Military, Commander US Central Command (Retired)
Mary Glasscock, The Glaco Companies, President and CEO
Greg Harris (‘72), General Reinsurance Corp, Vice President (Retired)
Christopher Hyland, Musco Corporation, Chief Financial Officer
Berry Johnson, Hampton-Dumont Community Schools, High School Principal (Retired)
Michelle Premo Koehler, Nationwide Insurance, Vice President Commercial Lines
Roger LeBel (‘72), Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends
Packflex, National Sales Manager
Reginald Martin (‘72), Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends
Ruth Neubert (‘04), People's National Bank
Dr. Eric Nichols (‘80), Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends
Indiana University, University Division Advisor
William Patten, Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends
Samuel Ritchie, Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends
Pekin Elementary School, Principal (Retired)
Dr. Yogesh Shah, Des Moines University, Associate Dean of Global Health
Nedra Jane Smith, Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends