Etienne Musonera, a professor of marketing at the Stetson-Hatcher School of Business at the Atlanta campus, addressed students and faculty alike at Kwibuka 32, the ceremony marking the 32nd anniversary of the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsi, on April 1.
Musonera is both a survivor of the genocide and a founder of Mercer on a Mission Rwanda.
“In a matter of 100 days, over a million Tutsi people were raped, tortured and murdered in Rwanda, and over 75,000 survivors were orphaned,” Musonera said. “Rwandan communities were left shattered by the violence and discrimination."
Professor of Marketing Vicki Eveland and Imwe project manager Neely Thomas '27 shared messages of remembrance and hope. Students and faculty in attendance lit up Toney Auditorium with candles to honor the victims of the genocide later in the ceremony.
"Genocide does not begin with weapons, it begins with words,” Musonera said, explaining that genocide is no sudden event, rather a process that is systematically organized and executed over years of discrimination.
The remembrance event was organized by Mercer Imwe, a nonprofit brand created through collaboration between Mercer University students, MindLeaps and female entrepreneurs who survived the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
MindLeaps offers creative dance and educational programming for at-risk youth in developing countries.
Imwe sources products from six Rwandan women, Alice, Alivera, Claudine, Epephania, Eugenie and Justine. They sell handcrafted book bags, totes and clutches, and the proceeds from their sales are directly returned to the women who created the products.
“Imwe’s mission is to strengthen families in emerging economies affected by the genocide,” Imwe spokesperson Joana Mazariegos ‘27 said. “We do just that by expanding the global reach of Rwanda’s entrepreneurs by selling Imwe’s products and advocating for the cause.”
The name Imwe, which means "one" in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda's predominant language, reflects the brand’s mission of unity and collaboration across communities.
“The remembrance ceremony is a new event on the Macon campus we are doing to honor the victims of the genocide, as well as promote Imwe as a brand that is actively helping communities in Rwanda recover,” Mazariegos said.
She also shared that Mercer’s Atlanta campus holds a similar remembrance event annually. Mazariegos said she hopes Imwe can make the event on Macon’s campus a tradition.
Hannah Mock ‘28 is a communications and graphic design double major at Mercer and is currently a staff writer for The Mercer Cluster. When she’s not at a coffee shop catching up on her studies, Hannah is working on her latest artistic projects or out hiking a new nature trail. Her favorite things to write about include arts and culture, social issues and community accomplishments.
