Botschafter Murphy in Rütli-Schule

September 28, 2010. Ambassador Murphy and National Party Co-Chairman of the Alliance 90/Greens Party Cem Özdemir visited the Campus Rütli in Berlin-Neukölln. The Ambassador spent more than an hour and half at the school, meeting with administrators and holding a discussion with more than 50 10th grade students. After hearing about the Ambassador’s interest in visiting German schools and engaging in discussions with high school students, Mr. Özdemir mentioned the Rütli School during a recent conversation. The Ambassador was impressed by the very American-style idea of creating a campus that combines school and after-school activity facilities in order to provide all-around educational and social supervision and mentoring for the students. In his opening remarks, he applauded the students and faculty for their courage and engagement in realizing this revolutionary school reform and encouraged them to continue to work together to achieve their goals. He told the students that it is very important to believe in their dreams and work toward them to make a difference for themselves, their families and their communities at large. Ambassador Murphy supported his call to action by showing the students some photos of his own personal heroes. They included great visionaries such George C. Marshall, initiator of Marshall Plan; Senator Jay William Fulbright, founder of the world’s largest exchange program; civil rights movement leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks; and Willy Brandt, who brought about an extraordinary improvement of East-West relations by spontaneously kneeling in front of the memorial for the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The students were particularly awed when Ambassador Murphy told them about a young boy from an interracial marriage who was raised mainly by his grandparents in a very middle-class setting who went on to become the President of the United States of America. In the ensuing discussion, the students asked the Ambassador many questions ranging from his personal life to current issues such as school and financial reforms, the death penalty, and the situation in the Middle East.