In the fall of 2006 the Buffalo State College Theater Department produced The Diary of Anne Frank. Little did we know that we were embarking on a journey that would define our department’s path towards social change and diversity education. In an attempt to refresh this classic play, we chose to weave the horrors of the Rwanda Holocaust of 1994 into Anne’s story set during Hitler’s reign of World War II. We cast two “Annes”: one, Jewish, hiding from Nazis, the other, Tutsi, hiding from Hutu extremists—both speaking Anne’s words.We clearly touched a nerve that has since ignited a passion for world improvement and exploration of diversity amongst our students and faculty.



To that end, Buffalo State College has joined hands with The Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo, The Albright-Knox Art Gallery and The Anne Frank Center (NYC) to present The Anne Frank Project. Scheduled for September 16-17, 2010, this will be a conference celebrating the life and wisdom of Anne Frank (she would have turned 81 this year) and responding to her optimistic words: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” We couldn’t agree more as faculty, students and community examine hope in the midst of Genocide from a wide variety of diverse perspectives and disciplines. For more information call (716) 878-6416