Ziauddin Yousafzai Urges Standing for Honor

“People tend to think that someone else should stand for dignity and honor, but it is everyone’s responsibility,” Ziauddin Yousafzai told his Cox Auditorium audience last week. Knowing that he and his daughter, Malala, recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, had risked their lives speaking out for girls’ right to education, listeners took his call to action to heart.

Mr. Yousafzai, the College’s 2015 Ernie and Lucha Vogel Moral Courage Speaker, hails from Pakistan’s Swat Valley, where he peacefully resisted the Taliban’s efforts to shut down schools. When Malala was still quite young, Mr. Yousafzai brought her to the school where he worked so that she could begin her education. Later, while in her early teens—just as the Taliban’s control of the area was intensifying—Malala wrote anonymously for a BBC blog about her efforts to secure an education and also spoke on the topic on Pakistani television. In 2012, in an effort to silence her, a masked gunman boarded a school bus, asked for Malala, and shot her at point blank range. Instead of silencing her, however, the gunman magnified her voice. Malala regained her health and strength after treatment in the United Kingdom, where she and her family now reside and where she is currently enrolled in school.

Malala’s story resonates for millions around the world. She and her father co-founded the Malala Fund to empower girls worldwide through education. Mr. Yousafzai serves as board chairman for the fund and also acts as the United Nations special advisor on global education and the educational attaché to the Pakistani Consulate in Birmingham, England. Along with explaining how events in Pakistan propelled his fight for girls’ education, he spoke about progress that has been made, such as the ratification of Pakistan’s first bill granting all children the right to education.

From Cox to the Classroom

During his visit, Mr. Yousafzai took his message into classrooms, providing historical and geopolitical context for issues in the Middle East. He also noted the difference between education and indoctrination, describing his boyhood years at a school where he was immersed in jihadist ideology. “Even math problems included references to infidels and jihad, and I was taught to pray to become a Muslim martyr,” he told students. “Later my father moved me to a school where I received a secular education, studying history, English, and art. The only hope for the region is promoting academic study and putting an end to extremist indoctrination.”

Mr. Yousafzai’s message resonated deeply with sophomore Nohemy Johnson, who plans to be a human rights lawyer. “Bringing Mr. Yousafzai to speak on campus was a brilliant idea,” she commented. “I was most impressed with his humility, sincerity, and courage.”