Story by Era Sundar, Editor in Chief
\nPhoto by Clarissa Peereboom, Photo Editor<\/p>\n
Alemayehu Weldemariam understands conflict.<\/p>\n
ACC\u2019s first International Visiting Scholar has a law degree, a masters in peace and conflict studies and years of experience and trial by ordeal.<\/p>\n
In 2011, Weldemariam was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago on his way to a successful career as an academic.<\/p>\n
But it all fell apart quickly.<\/p>\n
The trouble started when Weldemariam made remarks considered critical of his government in an interview with \u201cThe Reporter,\u201d the largest newspaper in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the interview, I talked about how the political space was closing; the initial openings that we saw in the 2005 election were coming to an end,\u201d he said. \u201cEthiopia held its first ever competitive, free and fair national elections. But soon after the election, people protested the results and the government responded with deadly force and killed 193 innocent civilians in the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weldemariam was known as a human rights advocate in Ethiopia, and the remarks only reaffirmed this perception.<\/p>\n
When the government started cracking down on public figures, intellectuals and opposition leaders, he found himself a target.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government dismissed me from my job and banned me from teaching at any university in Ethiopia,\u201d Weldemariam said.<\/p>\n
He was devastated.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeaching is not something you do for a living. For me teaching is my passion. Teaching is where my heart is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only was he deprived of his livelihood, but it became too dangerous for Weldemariam, who was in Chicago at the time, to return home.<\/p>\n
Soon he applied for and was granted political asylum in the United States. Through the International Institute of Education\u2019s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), he received a joint hosting by the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and ACC.<\/p>\n
The International Visiting Scholar Program is the newest addition to ACC\u2019s International Programs department. Weldemariam is ACC\u2019s first visiting scholar.<\/p>\n
The college partnered with the SRF to bring the program to campus. It provides fellowships that support temporary academic positions in colleges, universities and research centers for scholars in danger of persecution in their home countries.<\/p>\n
Khosropour\u2019s honors psychology class deals with concepts of human conflict and peace. Weldemariam has attended some of her classes and spoke of his work during one of those sessions.<\/p>\n
Francisco Diaz, a studentin the class said, \u201cHaving Weldemariam in our class was very pleasant because he covered some interesting subjects, and I learned a lot from his point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weldemariam said the Visiting Scholar Program has allowed him to return to teaching and is helping him with the transition to his new life.<\/p>\n
The program, however, ends in June, and Weldemariam will have to seek other opportunities. His future plans may include pursuing a Ph.D., which would help him achieve his goal of becoming a college professor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really rewarding working with young people because they come with a great thirst for learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Although returning to Ethiopia is not an option for the near future, Weldemariam is hopeful that his country will soon adopt a more progressive approach to human rights for its citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want Ethiopia to fully embrace democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n