In honoring the life, legacy and statesmanship of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a “daughter of DU” and Josef Korbel, namesake of the university’s School of International Studies, a lottery-select few of international studies majors, university administrators, academics, bureaucrats and invited guests were schooled in diplomacy and international affairs by former First Lady, U.S. Senator from New York and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The night of Wednesday, May 24, began with a warm reception and remarks made on behalf of Korbel Dean Fritz Mayer, highlighting the legacy of Secretary Albright and acknowledging the recent passing and celebration of life of her brother, John Korbel, who would have been in attendance. Dean Mayer then awarded DU professor Singumbe Muyeba with the Korbel Outstanding Teaching Award.
Described as “incredibly engaging” as a professor, “dedicating his time outside of the classroom to support students’ futures,” Muyeba said that it was a “privilege to teach among the brightest students and serve alongside the best professors.”
He touched on the inspiration offered to him by Albright, noting his uncle’s tenure as the Zambian Ambassador during Alrbright’s service as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. “My uncle taught me how to be a good teacher by being a good teacher,” he said.
Ambassador Clauda Fuentes Julio was then awarded the Korbel Distinguished Alumni Award. “Albright paved the way for women like myself,” she said, recognizing that she showed women could serve in positions of power and that “principled and pragmatic human rights foreign policy is possible.”
A brief tribute video illustrating the trailblazing legacy of Albright then played, including remarks from U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who spoke on DU’s campus just weeks prior. Adorning stylish gold sneakers, Chancellor Haefner introduced former Secretary of State and DU alum Condoleeza Rice, who addressed the audience through a pre-recorded video.
“Although Secretary Clinton, my friend Hillary, and I have served in different administrations, belong to different parties and live on opposite sides of the country, we were both blessed to follow in the footsteps of our nation’s first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright,” she began.
Rice spoke to how she came to know Albright, learning of her existence from her father Josef Korbel while attending DU. She described her first meeting with Albright as amusing. “Madeleine was working for the campaign of Michael Dukakis, and she called me and she said that Michael Dukakis needed someone to help him with foreign policy, and would I be interested in serving on that committee…I paused…and I said, Madeleine, I’m a Republican,” she anecdotalized. “She kind of shrieked, ‘How could that be, we have the same father!’,” Albright of course referring to her father, Josef.
She then welcomed Secretary Clinton and Dean Mayer to the stage for a keynote roundtable conversation.
Clinton first noted her immediate and intense friendship with Albright, as the late Secretary had been a prominent fixture of President Bill Clinton’s cabinet, calling Albright “the only Secretary of State who was down to earth.” Clinton emotionally recalled Albright’s one-liners, role model aura, formidable debate skills and ability to put people in their place. Most notably, according to Clinton, Albright “worked to normalize what it meant to include women’s voices in foreign policy.”
Secretary Clinton and Dean Mayer spoke extensively on the issue of democracy, the Ukraine War and democratic backsliding in the United States. While carefully avoiding comments on her 2016 campaign, Clinton took several digs at former President Trump, whom she likened to a “cult leader,” given his ability as a “smart demagogue does” to “pick up on all these strains of prejudice, and bias, and insecurity, and fear, and hate, weave them together into a message…that was straight out of the fascist playbook.”
Clinton also warned of strongmen political leadership, citing with China’s Xi Jingping and Russia’s Vladamir Putin, particularly as the two countries embrace bilateral relations. Discussing the Ukraine War at length, Secretary Clinton characterized Putin’s primary motivation to invade his neighbor as “driven by a desire to reconstruct Russia’s near abroad and to command obedience over the region.” This desire for power, according to Clinton’s analysis, cost Xi the ability to seize Taiwan considering transatlantic responses to Russian military activities.
The importance of democracy to prevent conflict was not lost on the crowd. Summoning Secretary Albright’s spirit, Secretary Clinton argued Americans need to be wary of political complacency, pointing to recent book bans, the January 6 insurrection and rollback of human rights as examples of democratic backsliding.
Describing Albright’s political refugee background, having fled twice from her native Czechoslovakia, Clinton warned, “Americans don’t have the lived experiences we need to imagine what it is like to lose freedoms one by one and to have leaders who regress rule of law.”
For Korbel students, and a lucky press pass recipient, the event marked a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with one of the most accomplished officials in American history. Emily Glass, a senior triple major in Spanish, international studies, and public policy, noted her general appreciation for such events, which open student’s minds to the world around them in a manner different to lectures. Particularly for Glass, Clinton’s remarks on Russia-China relations afforded a new perspective on the Ukraine war.
“The former Secretary made a really astute comment about how the United States’ and European communities’ unanticipated support for Ukraine may have led Xi Jinping to recalculate China’s aggression towards Taiwan. Her analysis demonstrated, to me, a level of nuanced understanding of global affairs that comes with years of experience as a talented stateswoman,” said Glass.
It was only fitting that America’s stateswoman was hurried out the door after presenting the Josef Korbel Award posthumously to Madeleine Albright, accepted by her daughter, Alice, on her behalf. The brief lecture from the woman who put a million cracks in the nation’s glass ceiling offered an invaluable wealth of knowledge in a course none of those in attendance will ever forget.
