About

Mission Statement

 

As its name has changed, the Center’s mission has also evolved, although key principles have remained intact. The final version of the mission statement was adopted in 2015 with the completion of the Center’s Strategic Plan and with the naming gift from the Mgrublian family:

The Center’s mission is to instill in students an understanding of human rights as central to moral conduct and ethical decisions in their personal lives, in their careers and in the public arena. In fulfillment of its mission, the Center:

  • Promotes human rights globally and locally through public advocacy, service and education;
  • Provides practical experience for students through internships, task forces and research; and
  • Advances scholarship in the study of human rights, Holocaust history and genocide studies, including the Armenian genocide.

History

 

Claremont McKenna College’s (CMC’s) mission is to provide students with a superior liberal arts education that prepares them for leadership in business, the professions, and government. In keeping with these goals, CMC began to support teaching and research about the Holocaust in the early 1970s, and launched the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights in March 2003 (now the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights, or “Center”), placing the College among the forerunners in the field of Holocaust Studies. At the time, the Center was one of few such entities to exist nationwide and today is one of approximately 200 like Centers in North America that focus on the Holocaust, genocide and human rights; though the Center is unique in that it still remains one of the few situated solely within an undergraduate institution – and not attached to a law school or graduate school curriculum.

The Center is located in a suite of offices in the Kravis Center in the heart of the Claremont Colleges. This dedicated space facilitates the activities and research of affiliated students, visiting scholars and staff. Housed here is also a specialized library of more than 1400 books, academic journals and rare documentary films on the history of the Holocaust, genocide and human rights. These academic resources support research projects sponsored by the Center as well as serve the larger community of students completing their own independent research or organizing human rights campaigns and programs.

Founding donor and current advisory board member, Leigh Crawford (CMC ’94), made possible the establishment of the Center in March 2003 while Professor John Roth served as the Center’s founding director. Professor Jonathan Petropoulos, initially the Center’s associate director, succeeded Roth from 2007-2008; Professor Edward Haley directed the Center from 2008-2014; and the Center’s current director is Professor Wendy Lower – with an interim directorship by Professor Hilary Appel (2017-18) who stepped in when Wendy Lower was on leave at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Center, which grew out of the teachings of Professor Roth on the Holocaust in the early 1970s, has had a couple of name changes since it was launched in 2003 as The Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights. In 2009, the Center’s name was changed to The Center for Human Rights Leadership, and in 2014, it became The Center for Human Rights. Finally, in 2015, in recognition of a generous donation by David ’82, P’11 and Margaret Mgrublian P’11, the Center’s name took on its current and final version: the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights. David currently serves as chair of CMC’s Board of Trustees and at the naming dinner hosted in the CMC Athenaeum in April 2015 (also commemorating the centennial of the Armenian genocide) he and John Roth both reaffirmed the importance of the Center’s work in fighting injustices and atrocities around the globe.

 

Programs

 

In fulfilling its vision and mission, the Center has pursued an educational strategy that combines classroom and experiential learning, activism, and research over the course of the student’s four year undergraduate experience. The goal being to make a lasting impact on the students while preparing them for possible careers and postgraduate work in human rights. Through its programs of teaching, visiting scholars and human rights leaders, academic travel, internships, student-led task forces, research opportunities, and service, the Center has sought to enable students to understand the causes and legacy of the Holocaust and to develop the ethical commitments and leadership qualities necessary to prevent and overcome human rights abuses in today’s world. The Center provides opportunities for students to engage in classroom study (curricular), research fellowships with faculty advisors (co-curricular), internships and activism (extra-curricular), and subsequently helps support graduates who wish to pursue human rights careers or graduate school after CMC (via a post-graduate fellowship program). As such, the Center has intentionally integrated all of its programs so that students receive a comprehensive educational experience.