Menu
Malala greeted by full house at DPU speech
The Ubben Lecture Series, founded by 1958 DePauw University graduates Timothy and Sharon Ubben for the purpose of bringing notable people to DPU, has done just that for many years.
The speakers have included former president Bill Clinton, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and now Malala Yousafzai, the youngest (at 17) Nobel Peace Prize recipient in history.
An hour before her scheduled appearance, a line of people from both the DePauw and the local communities stretched two blocks from the Lilly Center. At 7 p.m., just a half hour to go, the line was still a block and a half long, and officials were asking attendees to make as much room as possible.
Yousafzai was introduced by Tim Ubben, who after relating her story said, “Lest you think this is a super-girl, in many ways she’s been a normal teenager. She fusses with her hair, she fights with her brothers, she has a messy room and she can sleep late in the morning when allowed to. This is a normal girl, but also one of the most inspirational young persons in the world.”
As she made her way to the stage, Yousafzai was greeted by a long standing ovation.
“First of all,” she began when the applause finally died away, “I’d like to thank you for your support and for giving me such a warm welcome, and I’d like to thank DePauw University for inviting me to speak here. And I’m really grateful that I’m speaking on a platform where so many incredible figures have spoken before, especially Benazir Bhutto.”
Bhutto was the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation and the only female prime minister of Pakistan. She was assassinated in 2007, but she serves as a role model for many women. Yousafzai wore one her scarves when the United Nations invited her to speak in 2013 on her 16th birthday.
“It’s really a great moment that she has spoken here,” Yousafzai said, “and I’m speaking on the same stage.”
Yousafzai went on to relate her story.
“When I was born, some of my family and friends ... congratulated my mother, but others came and they told my mother, ‘Don’t worry; next time it will be a son.’ But then there was my father who celebrated my birth and was really happy to have a daughter, and he named me after Malalai, who was a heroic Pashtun figure known for her bravery because she raised her voice and encouraged soldiers to fight against the British forces. It was her voice that led to victory in that battle, so it shows the power of the voice of women. She’s also the only heroine known in the history.”
In 2009, Yousafzai raised her own voice when the Taliban banned girls’ education. She was 11.
“It was a complete shock to me,” Yousafzai said. “I woke up that morning and I cried because I knew that if I did not go to school for the rest of my life, I’d be just like other girls who get married at an early age, who then have children ... and they never get the opportunity to have their own identity, to show themselves. There are so many women who have the potential to be a resource in the community, and they’re lost in this way. They’re just living in the house, and I could not accept that for myself, so I decided that I would speak out.”
She started blogging for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and appeared in local and national news channels until she eventually caught the attention of the international community.
“We continued to speak out even though there was the fear that the Taliban would target us, but I was more worried about my father,” Yousafzai said. “I did not expect the Taliban to target me because we had this idea that they at least won’t target a child.”
But when Yousafzai was 15, her school bus was stopped by two men who asked for her by name. They shot and wounded her and two friends sitting with her. Yousafzai was taken to the UK in critical condition.
“I don’t remember the incident, which in a sense is a good thing if you don’t remember,” Yousafzai said with a small laugh. “I was unconscious for seven days. I remember the day I was coming home from school, and I suddenly wake up in Birmingham in the UK in a hospital. The first thing that I did was thank God that I was alive.
“I had to think for a while, and I started thinking that now I’ve been attacked by the Taliban, and it shows that what I was saying, raising my voice for education, really scared them. So I realized the power of my voice, but I also realized the importance of education for women. It is a second life. It is a completely new life, so I must give it to the purpose of education.”
Yousafzai made her first public appearance after the attack during her speech at the United Nations, which named her birthday, July 12, “Malala Day.”
And on that day and every other day since Yousafzai devotes her time and energy to promoting education for all, but especially girls and women, through the Malala Fund.
Most recently, she has visited five continents in her six-month Girl Power Trip.
After her speech, Yousafzai answered questions from Professor of Religious Studies Jeffrey Kenny and DePauw student journalists. Her responses often received applause from the audience.
Yousafzai related that extremism was not the only obstacle to female education, but that povertry, child labor, lack of government investment and cultural traditions also play a role.
“Islam has given the message of learning,” Yousafzai said. “It is compulsory for every man and woman to get knowledge. It is about learning about the world and making a positive change.”
She pointed out that, in American history, the same Bible was used both for and against slavery, and that interpretations can vary with culture.
“In some societies, it is not the religion,” Yousafzai said. “It is the patriarchy that is the big challenge, those cultural traditions. Even in our hometown in Pakistan, if you remove Islam, they will still have those challenges. I think for that they need examples, they need role models. It is not just people, it is that mindset that still exists there. And I think, if we keep on speaking, if we keep on challenging that, it has to change.”
She said it is “disappointing” when “the whole religion of Islam” is blamed, but that the solution for that is for people to get off the news and social media and get to know their neighbor, and for Muslim leaders to speak out against extremism.
“For example, if you see on TV about white supremacists and you think ‘Maybe the whole America is like this,’ but that’s not true,” Yousafzai said. “But I will say that more Muslim leaders need to speak out against extremism, and they need to unite. ”
When asked about why Muslim leaders do not speak against extremism more often, Yousafzai spoke about the Sunni and Shia divide among Muslims.
She later commented on why extremists exist, and how nations can stop their growth by preventing poverty and promoting education.
“It’s important for people to know more about the politics in the Middle East, in South Asia, in those regions, so you get a clear idea of what has been happening,” Yousafzai said. “Jihadism was created in those regions against the Soviet Union, but also now we see that extremist groups are growing again, it’s because there was this war in Afghanistan and other regions as well, and then those countries were left, and I think those countries should not have been left.
“The people are impoverished, and then the children do not get access to education, and the future of the nation is deprived of this basic right. So, the developing countries and the Western countries should invest in education to protect them in the long term.”
She was also asked to comment on the refugee crisis and fake news. To the first, she said that it is “shocking” that more Western nations do not have more refugees; and to the second, that media should not be discredited.
In lighter moments, Yousafzai was asked to talk about studying at Oxford and how she would characterize herself.
She said making new friends was difficult because she was “a bit well-known,” but that she has since overcome that.
“When I say something I believe in I don’t hesitate,” Yousafzai said. “I have nothing to be afraid of. I try to learn from people. I try to be myself. But all I say is exempt for my brothers.”
She said that sometimes her mission becomes discouraging, but that “the most important thing we personally can do is to be good ourselves. If we all do that I think change will come.”