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\nThe Flame of Hope, a gift to the University from the Friends of Rwanda Association, was erected between Amador and Tahoe halls. (Sacramento State\/Andrea Price)<\/p>\n
May 18, 2026<\/p>\n
Sacramento State students and faculty, government dignitaries from Rwanda, and local officials unveiled a new memorial on campus May 16 honoring victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Flame of Hope, a stone and metal sculpture erected on the lawn between Amador Hall and Tahoe Hall, was a gift to the University by the Friends of Rwanda Association to remember the lives that were lost as well as\u00a0remind\u00a0the world to\u00a0prevent future atrocities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis memorial stands as a reminder that remembrance must remain active, truthful, and alive,\u201d Rwanda Ambassador to the U.S. Mathilde\u00a0Mukantabana\u00a0said at the ceremony. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0more than a stone.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a declaration that we will not forget.\u00a0We\u00a0will not remain silent, and we will continue to stand against genocide denial and hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Flame of Hope, a gift to the University from the Friends of Rwanda Association, was erected between Amador and Tahoe halls. (Sacramento State\/Andrea Price)<\/p>\n
An estimated one million people were killed over the course of\u00a0100 days\u00a0when leaders of the Hutu-majority government ordered the mass extermination of Tutsis in April 1994.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis memorial reminds the world that genocide begins long before violence,\u201d said survivor Phodidas Ndamyumugabe. \u201cIt begins when hatred is tolerated, when people are divided by ethnicity, or race, or tribe, or religion, and when human dignity is ignored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, this memorial is also a place of hope and healing and reconciliation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each year, the tragedy is commemorated during\u00a0Kwibuka, a 100-day period beginning on April 7.\u00a0Kwibuka\u00a0is the Kinyarwanda word for \u201cremember.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe statue references a moment in time, but it does not ask those who observe it to stay in the past,\u201d President Luke Wood said at the unveiling ceremony. \u201cRather, it serves as a tool to educate the next generation. It will catch our attention as we make our way to our classes and our meetings, asking us to remember the past as a guide for our future beliefs and behaviors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The University has had a long-standing relationship with the Rwandan government since Mukantabana\u2019s late husband, Ethnic Studies professor Alexandre Kimenyi organized the first International Conference on Genocide at Sac State in 1998.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mukantabana\u00a0and\u00a0Kimenyi\u00a0both lost dozens of family members in the Rwandan Genocide, including parents and siblings. Kimenyi died in 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several dignitaries from the Rwandan government, including Minister of Education Joseph Nsengimana, Minister of Youth & Arts Jean Nepo Abdallah\u00a0Utumatwishima, Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Governance Board, and President of American University at Bulgaria Margee Ensign attended the solemn ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI survived the genocide after digging my grave,\u201d\u00a0Ndamyumugabe\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201c… We remember so humanity may learn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
About Jennifer K. Morita<\/p>\n
Jennifer K. Morita joined Sacramento State in 2022. A former newspaper reporter for the Sacramento Bee, she spent several years juggling freelance writing with being a mom. When she isn\u2019t chauffeuring her two daughters, she enjoys reading mysteries, experimenting with recipes, and Zumba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jennifer K. Morita May 18, 2026 Sacramento State students and faculty, government dignitaries from Rwanda, and local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-321585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}