Roméo Dallaire Featured at 12th Annual New York Benefit

On October 17th, over 1,000 people attended the 12th Annual Facing History and Ourselves New York Benefit. The successful event raised over $2.2 million to support the work of Facing History in New York and around the world. Co-chairs for this year's benefit were Carol and Michael Lowenstein, and Dale and John Katzenberg.

Facing History was honored to feature Lieutenant-General the Honorable Roméo Dallaire (Retired) as the keynote speaker. General Dallaire, who was Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, spoke with Facing History founder Margot Stern Strom about the potential for education to prevent what he called a "failure of humanity." In recounting his refusal to abandon Rwanda at the risk of a court martial, he said:

"Refusing a legal order could get me a court martial. But agreeing to it would have been an immoral position . . . I could live with a court martial, but I could never live with abandoning human beings left unprotected."

The discussion underscored the power of education both for good and evil.