February 29, 2012
By LINDA CORTEZ |Photo editor
Dr. Jehan Sadat, former first lady of Egypt, peace advocate and women’s rights activist, will speak at 7:30 p.m. today at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Amarillo College Student Government Association’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Tickets for the event are available to AC students for $5 and the general public for $15 and can be purchased at the Washington Street, Hereford and Moore County assistance centers. Because the event is sponsored by SGA, all profits from ticket sales go directly to student scholarships.
“Jehan Sadat is a remarkable person who has accomplished a lot in her life,” said Heather Atchley, director of student life. “She was a strong woman even before her husband’s death and since his death, she is really taking part of his strength and using that to move forward and make a difference in the lives of thousands and millions of people worldwide.”
Sadat’s husband, the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, was assassinated on Oct. 6, 1981. As first lady of Egypt and since her husband’s death, Jehan Sadat has openly fought for Muslim women’s rights.
Following her lecture, Sadat will sign copies of her best-selling autobiography, A Woman of Egypt, and My Hope for Peace.
“Her book titled My Hope for Peacewas published after 9/11,” Atchley said. “She talks about how she was here in the States on Sept. 11, 2001, her experiences with that and how she related that to the day of her husband’s assassination.”
TJ Williams, a photography major, said he thinks Sadat is an appropriate distinguished lecturer because AC’s institutional theme for the 2011-2012 academic year is “Reconstructing 9/11.”
“This is a really good opportunity for students to see somebody who is a world-renowned leader,” Williams said.
Sadat holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Cairo University. She has been a professor since 1993 at the University of Maryland, where she teaches international studies.
Her other accomplishments include establishment of the Talla Society, which trains women in various handicrafts and pays the tuition of almost 1,000 secondary school and university students.
She also has received the Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center. In 1985, she was named honorary president of WIC. The Humanitarian and Peace, Commissioner’s and Woman of Achievement awards are among Sadat’s other achievements.
“I am eager to hear her lecture,” said Janie Galindo, a general studies major.
“I think she is a modern day Martin Luther King, holding strong to beliefs and having no fear or resentment or rejection.”
Students may submit questions to Sedat to The Ranger by contacting us via this site or on Facebook.
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