George Mason and CHNM to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with Support from the German Embassy
The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, signaling the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era in transatlantic relations and European unity. November 9, 2009 celebrates 20 years since the Berlin Wall was torn down. Long a symbol of isolation and contention, the Berlin Wall now symbolizes hope, change and unity. Students at more than 25 US universities will celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by organizing Campus Weeks with financial and organizational support from the German Embassy in Washington DC .
This fall, George Mason University and CHNM will join in the German Embassy’s campaign, Freedom Without Walls, a crosscultural celebration of the unification of East Germany and West Germany, and the possibility for peaceful change throughout the world. CHNM is hosting the George Mason website for Freedom Without Walls, which will feature updates on project news, Campus Week events, and new content.
The Campus Weeks are a component of Germany ‘s Freedom Without Walls campaign, an effort to reach out to the generation that was born around the time the wall came down.
Ambassador Scharioth explained that reaching today’s university students is critical if the memory and the inspiration of the fall of the wall is to be preserved. “Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the vestiges of the wall remind us that freedom is precious,” he said. “We are proud to support a new generation of future leaders in their effort to discover and to share what the fall of the wall means to them,” he continued.
The Freedom Without Walls Campus Weeks will include public speaking competitions and an art competition involving replicas of the Berlin Wall to be located across the country.
The German Embassy has created a website with information about the historic anniversary at www.Germany.info/withoutwalls, as well as a Freedom Without Walls page on Facebook. The Germany.info website contains comprehensive information about the history of Germany’s division and reunification, and it will document the Campus Weeks using online video and photos.
The Freedom Without Walls campaign is generously supported by Air Berlin and by the Max Kade Foundation, Inc.
The Goethe-Institut USA and the Wende Museum in Los Angeles provide support in kind for the German Embassy’s Freedom Without Walls campaign.
Colleges and Universities Participating in Freedom Without Walls Campus Weeks 2009
Amherst College
Boston College
Bowdoin College
Brown University
California State University Long Beach
Canisius College , Buffalo
Chapman University , LA
University of Cincinnati
Columbia University
Cornell University
Duke University
University of Florida
University of South Florida
George Mason University
Georgetown University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Massachusetts – Amherst
University of Michigan
Middlebury College
University of Missouri-St. Louis
University of Oregon
Rice University
University of St. Thomas
UCLA – to be confirmed
Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia
Wartburg College
Washington University
Westminster College