First lady upholds the university's Afghan grads as symbols of progress in a shrinking world.

By Alex Kuffner, Providence Journal

May 21, 2006

BRISTOL — As she stood on stage at Roger Williams University's graduation ceremony yesterday, First Lady Laura Bush spoke the names of three members of the Class of 2006.

“Nadima Sahar. Arezo Kohistani. Mahbooba Babrakzai,” she said slowly in her Texas accent.

As their 900 classmates heard the names of the three young women who came to Roger Williams from Afghanistan on scholarships in 2002 and 2003, and who graduated together yesterday, they cheered wildly and applauded.

“Someday, the world will know these women as accomplished Afghan leaders,” Mrs. Bush said. “But today, the Roger Williams Class of 2006 knows them as classmates, teammates, roommates and friends.

“You've laughed with each other and you've learned with each other. What they've learned about America from you will help build a lasting friendship between the people of Afghanistan and the people of America.”

For Sahar, Babrakzai and Kohistani, it was a fitting way to end their time at Roger Williams. Each of them came to the university with a simple desire to get an education, and each of them leaves with hopes of helping to rebuild their country.

The first lady came to Bristol to see them graduate. She was invited to deliver the commencement address by Paula Nirschel, the founder of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women, and the wife of university President Roy J. Nirschel.

Four years ago—shortly after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan—Paula Nirschel started the initiative, aiming to give Afghan women a chance at higher education in the United States.

Babrakzai and Sahar were members of the program's inaugural class, recipients of full, four-year scholarships. Kohistani joined her countrywomen a year later, but by taking a heavier load of classes than most students, she was able to finish her studies in three years.

As the program grew—to 20 women this year, at schools across the country—it attracted the attention of the White House.

Mrs. Bush, a former teacher and school librarian who has emphasized the importance of education, contacted Nirschel after seeing her talk about the scholarships on a TV news program a couple years ago.

Since then, the two women have met several times, in Washington, D.C., and before the graduation ceremony yesterday, Mrs. Bush briefly visited the Nirschels' home, across from the university campus.

On stage, after receiving an honorary doctorate in education, the first lady called Laura Nirschel a friend, and devoted much of her 20-minute speech to the scholarship program.

“American women understand that Afghanistan's future success requires widespread education among Afghans,” she said. “By educating promising young Afghan women in American colleges, these institutions are making sure Afghanistan's future leaders will extend the freedom and opportunity in their new democracy to all Afghans, including women and girls.”

Mrs. Bush, who visited Afghanistan last year, talked of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women in the context of a shrinking world in which connections between all countries are becoming tighter. She told the graduates that, as Americans, they face a responsibility to help deal with problems abroad.

“More than any other generation of Americans, the Class of 2006 is tasked with resolving challenges that lie far beyond your doorstep, even far beyond America's borders,” she said. “Because your world is so small, you cannot ignore a tsunami in Southeast Asia or a genocide in Darfur. And—as everyone at Roger Williams knows—you can't neglect millions of people around the world living under tyranny.”

The first lady's speech was lighthearted at times. She began by showing the thousands of people in the audience photos of “Little Roger”—a cardboard cutout of Rhode Island's founder, Roger Williams, and the emblem of the university's 50th anniversary celebration this year—posed around the White House and its grounds.

There, on big-screen television flanking the stage, was Little Roger on the south lawn of the White House. There he was in the Rose Garden. And there he was with the president and first lady at a recent state dinner for the Australian prime minister.

Earlier, when Roy Nirschel had started singing an off-tune rendition of a song from American Idol, during his less-than-serious address to the graduates, the first lady had led the crowd in a round of applause.

After giving her own speech under a cavernous tent on the university's waterfront campus, Mrs. Bush stepped off stage and, according to university officials, headed back to Washington, ending her two-day trip to Rhode Island.

The commencement was a joyous event for the members of the Class of 2006, especially the Afghan women.

As Babrakzai stood waiting to collect her diploma from Roy Nirschel, a teacher came up hugged her. Then, several of her classmates did the same.

When Kohistani walked across the stage to receive her diploma, she looked skyward, raised her left hand into the air, and then placed it over her heart. As she walked offstage, she held her diploma tightly in both arms, clutching it to her body.

After the ceremony, Sahar told a group of reporters how she felt:

“Today, you see our dreams coming true.”