Great stories are told in gallery of the Mass Media and Technology Hall. The photographs and videos displayed there by the School of Journalism and Broadcasting have long been a source of inspiration for students at Western, but the current exhibit is one of the best ever, in my opinion.

The mixed-media presentation by the Fleishaker-Green Scholars class in First Amendment Studies Class delves into the past and present lives of immigrants and refugees who now live in Bowling Green.

One of the most touching and revealing stories was about one of the scholars in the class, Rose Twagiramariya, who shared her experience as a 6-year-old child caught up in bloody civil war in Rwanda, then her life as a refugee who eventually ended up here, so far – in distance and culture – from her ancestral home. As I read it I cried and cried.

Other stories, while not as personal to the class, told similar, harrowing tales of the discrimination, violence and hunger that drove refugees from their homes. Through the efforts of the International Center, Bowling Green has helped more than 4,000 refugees and immigrants build new lives here since the Vietnam War.

In addition to Rose, students who worked on the project under the guidance of instructor Sarah Shipley Hiles were Philip Andrews, Ashley Belcher, Jessica Ebelhar, Amanda Loviza, Angelika Masero, Elio Pajares, Eileen Ryan, Mandy Simpson, and Colleen Stewart.

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