When Nick Ogutu started attending Cedar Crest College, he was looking for a way to continue his passion and commitment to human rights. From the ground up, he started Amnesty International Cedar Crest College Chapter. Amnesty International is a global movement with over 7 million members promoting human rights and fighting
against injustices such as oppressive laws and discrimination. “As an international student, I knew this organization could tackle social justice issues in my small village, called Ombeyi in Kenya, and also here at Cedar Crest College,” says Ogutu.
This past spring, the Cedar Crest chapter held a peace rally for Burundi, a small, poor African country. Violence has escalated there since 2015, when the president refused to leave office and has since killed thousands of people. “It is a genocide in the making,” says Ogutu, and unfortunately, many Americans do not even know this
is occurring. “It is not relevant to the interest of countries like the USA or Europe who control international media and policy,” he says.
Ogutu was ambitious as he planned the peace rally. He used his personal resources to travel and speak to different groups, especially the African population here, in New Jersey and New York while waiting for funding to be approved by Amnesty International USA. Cedar Crest College’s President, Carmen Twillie Ambar, greatly supported the event and brought speakers from the United Nations, Canada and Kenya.
Ogutu refers to the peace rally as an emotional experience. “What came to my mind were the Burundians, especially the children whose parents had been killed in violence,” says Ogutu. He also loved how the local community including churches and cultural organizations teamed up for this event. “Nobody could believe the event was organized by a college chapter,” he adds.
Ogutu received the Student Volunteer of the Year award for 2016. “When I got the award and the Amnesty International Cedar Crest College Chapter also got an award, I said to myself, ‘The people of Burundi, the world heard your cries but we will not stop there until peace returns in your lovely country.’” The award means a lot to Ogutu because it shows his efforts were recognized. “Human rights work is tough and not very financially rewarding, but we feed off awards and recognitions because they fuel our passion and commitment to speak for the voiceless.”
After graduating from Cedar Crest College with a bachelor’s degree in social work and psychology, he is attending Columbia University for international social welfare, refugee and immigrant studies. “I am still a member of Amnesty International and I managed to lead Columbia students to hold a protest rally against the marginalization, arrest and killing of Oromo people by the Ethiopian government,” he says. Ogutu has also volunteered with a refugee resettlement program in the Lehigh Valley and Habitat Humanity, and has organized numerous human rights rallies.
