The John V. Roach Honors College has been bringing renowned speakers, eminent scholars and professional practitioners such as Bill Nye, Diane Ravitch and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to TCU’s campus since the late 1990’s to speak to students, faculty and staff and the larger Fort Worth-Dallas community.
This year, over 600 people gathered in the BLUU Ballroom for the Forum, to hear from keynote speaker, Amal Clooney.
Amal Clooney is an internationally renowned human rights lawyer and co-creator of The Clooney Foundation for Justice, a nonprofit whose mission is “to hold perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable for their crimes, and to help victims in their fight for justice.”
Clooney’s time on campus, which included a separate event for Honors students prior to the Forum, left her with a positive impression of TCU’s student body.
“I see a generation of very determined young people who are not seeing themselves as observers, but as agents of change,” Clooney said. “They know that one person can change history and they want to be that person. It’s very encouraging.”
The Forum began with a welcome from Honors Cabinet President Marina Magnant ’24, who helped promote the event and coordinated a social media takeover.
Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. introduced Amal Clooney, who took the stage alongside the evening’s moderators — Carrie Liu Currier, Ph.D., and Dean Ron Pitcock, Ph.D., — for an extended conversation about her background, work and the challenges she faces as she fights for justice for victims of human rights abuse.
“If you want to be really popular, I wouldn’t go into human rights work,” Clooney said. “Because there will definitely be people who don’t like you.”
Clooney, who was born in Lebanon before moved to the United Kingdom at age two, discussed how her childhood influenced the work she does today. Her family was uprooted from her home country during the Lebanese Civil War, giving her a first-hand understanding of how conflict impacts innocent families and children.
A love of legal shows inspired her to study law at New York University when she got older. As she began practicing law, she discovered that it was the pro bono cases keeping her up at night.
Clooney’s passion for defending the defenseless led her to leave her law firm, choosing instead to practice law at The Hague, known globally as the international city of peace and justice.
“Law is a really powerful tool,” Clooney said. “It’s not going to solve every problem on its own, but it is an important component.”
As a part of the event, the audience was shown a video about the Clooney Foundation for Justice, after which Clooney further explained the impact of the foundation. According to Clooney, the foundation focuses on three main areas: prosecuting war crimes, protecting freedom of the process and upholding women’s rights.
Within all three areas of focus, the foundation takes a stand on behalf of people who have been persecuted through unfair trials, as well as people who have yet to face the consequences of committing terrible atrocities.
In every instance, Clooney noted, the foundation selects the cases that can have the largest impact, not only on the people involved but on international law.
“We look for cases that will scale and cases that will be emblematic,” Clooney said.
The Forum’s conversation navigated through a multitude of cases and situations Clooney has encountered throughout her work. In each story, despite the gravity of the situations, Clooney’s message of hope persisted.
“I do believe in positive change,” Clooney said. “I believe that individuals can make a difference.”
As the evening drew to a close, the focus shifted to the future, and how the students in the room, along with students across TCU’s campus, could continue to bend the arc of the world toward justice. When asked what advice she would give students, Clooney encouraged those in attendance to “know your power.”
“If everyone makes an effort to change one life or do one thing, we’ll be much better off,” Clooney said.
