peopleatthehouse Rwanda Presidential Scholars Plan to Take Morehouse Experience Back to Africa By Add Seymour Jr. year ago, sophmores Miguel De LaSalle Twahirwa and Jacques Kumutima were in the central African country of Rwanda just hoping for any opportunity to attend college in the United States. Today, they are studying chemistry at Morehouse as part of the Rwanda Presidential Scholars Program with a plan to return to help their developing country. Rwanda continues to rebound after the nation’s low point in 1994, when nearly 1 million Rwandans died during a genocide after a civil war in the country. The country is now a symbol of strength with a rebuilt government, stimulated economy and rising tourism. This is the College’s first year in the five-year Rwanda Presidential Scholars Program, which brings Rwanda’s top math and science students to the United States to study at one of 19 institutions. After graduation, the students—who are matched with institutions that fit them academically and socially—return home for a minimum of two years to put their education to work in their homeland. “Great people studied here, like Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Kumutima. “That encouraged me to come to this school and pursue my studies and do well.” The program is a collaboration with some of the colleges from the Associated Colleges of the South, the Clinton Foundation and the Rwandan government that allows some of the very brightest students in
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Sophmores Miguel Twahirwa (left) and Jacques Kumutima (right)
that area to attend college here in the South, explained Danny Bellinger, interim associate dean of Admissions and Recruiting at Morehouse. “When they come here, they see these confident, positive, young people and then faculty and administrators who speak to that whole Morehouse experience,” he said. “It may be a bit much to take in initially, but they will leave here ready to get back to Rwanda and make a difference in their country.” “In Rwanda, many things will change,” said Kumutima. “I came here to get experiences so that I can go and apply them and bring them back to my country.” ■
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS
Hopps Scholars Win in Two Research Competitions BRANTLY FULTON, a sophomore chemical science major, is one of seven John H. Hopps Jr. Defense Research Scholars who won awards during the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Charlotte, N.C., last November. Just one week later, eight additional scholars were honored during the Achievement Reward for College Scientists Foundation (ARCS) during its annual luncheon. “It just shows how immensely talented and dedicated these student are to their research,” said Rahmelle Thompson, executive director of the John H. Hopps Jr. Research Scholars Program. “Due to the wonderful support of the U.S. Department of Defense, these young researchers are going to be huge contributors to research in the future.” ■ MOREHOUSE MAGAZINE
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