Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Man whose story inspired "Hotel Rwanda" to speak at Lewis and Clark College

Photos and story by James Hill

Paul Rusesabagina’s story inspired the Academy Award-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda.” The entrepreneur and businessman will speak at Lewis & Clark College on Wednesday, March 2, at 7 p.m. The event in Agnes Flanagan Chapel is free and open to the public.In the 1990s, Rusesabagina managed the four-star Mille Collines hotel in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali. In 1994, the assassination of an ethnic Hutu leader plunged the nation into genocide when Hutu militias killed ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. When Rusesabagina saw genocide sweep the nation, he converted the luxury hotel into a refugee camp and housed more than 1,200 Tutsis and Hutus. He has been called “the African Schindler” for his efforts to shelter both his family – he is an ethnic Hutu married to a Tutsi – and the refugees during 100 days of bloodshed in the country that left an estimated one million people dead.In 2000, he received the Immortal Chaplain’s Prize for Humanity. More recently he served as a consultant on the film “Hotel Rwanda,” which has been nominated for three Academy Awards including best actor for Don Cheadle. The film is showing locally at Regal and Century cinemas. Rusesabagina’s talk at Lewis & Clark is the last on his U.S. speaking tour.Student groups including Students Organized for Activities, Organization for Peace and Politics, Black Student Union, International Students at Lewis & Clark, Amnesty International, Student Leadership and Service, and Ethnic Student Services, are sponsoring Rusesabagina’s lecture. The campus is located at 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road. Parking is available on campus for a small fee. For more information, call 503-768-8523.