Salem State Grad Student Receives Prestigious Fellowship

SALEM, MA -- Salem State University graduate student, Claude Kaitare, of Lynn, has been selected to join the Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers in Houston, TX this May. Kaitare is a January 2018 graduate of the graduate certificate program with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State.

A survivor of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against Tutsi, Kaitare studied history at Clark University in Worcester, and began to seek understanding of genocides. In January 2018, Kaitare earned his graduate certificate from the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State University where he focused on comparative genocide.

“For almost two decades (all of my adult years) academically and personally I have sought out to understand why genocides continue to happen in our society long after the world’s proclamation of ‘never again’ at the end of the Holocaust. This quest in many ways largely has to do with me being a survivor of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in my country Rwanda,” Kaitare writes in his fellowship application essay. “My objective in life is to raise awareness in hopes of eradicating ignorance of the subject of genocide,” Kaitare said.

The Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers at the Holocaust Museum in Houston is a week-long program taking place from May 21-26. The fellowship fully funds students’ work and study at the Holocaust Museum Houston, as well as provide the opportunity to speak with Holocaust and genocide survivors and work within the museum’s exhibits.

According to the museum’s website, “The Warren Fellowship, initiated in 2003 and supported by the Naomi and Martin Warren Family Foundation, is designed to bring the lessons of the Holocaust into the classroom and community. It is a major component of the Museum’s educational outreach.”

“Claude has taken his life experiences as a genocide survivor and refugee, expanded his knowledge into new areas of comparative genocide studies, and enriched the certificate program. His life, experiences and knowledge equip him to be a transformative educator for future generations,” said Christopher Mauriello, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Previously, Kaitare interned for Facing History and Ourselves, a globally recognized nonprofit organization and continues to work with the organization as a resource speaker at numerous schools, most recently visiting Margarita Muniz Academy in Jamaica Plain. He has also traveled to several locations where genocides have taken place, including: Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp in Krakow, Poland, the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center in Kigali, Rwanda, and the Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After this fellowship, Kaitare plans to continue to stay active in the field of Holocaust and genocide studies and will “continue to educate others as I share my testimonial of surviving the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda.” He also hopes to study at Yad Vashem in Israel to enrich his understanding and knowledge of genocide.

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Photo by Salem State University.