A graduating senior who came to the United States as a political refugee from Afghanistan has been selected as the student speaker for UCLA’s principal commencement ceremony of 2002.

Qudsia Bekeran, who plans to return after graduation to Afghanistan as part of the effort to motivate women and children to get the education long denied them by the Taliban, will deliver her address at the College of Letters and Science graduation exercise June 14 in Pauley Pavilion.

“We were highly impressed with Qudsia’s courage, determination and perseverance in the face of adversity,� said Brian Copenhaver, the provost of UCLA’s College of Letters and Science. “She sets a great example of the leadership and dedication to education that UCLA works to foster in all its students.�

The 27-year-old women’s-rights activist, high school tutor and congressional intern, who is graduating with a B.A. in political science, broke into tears when she learned of her selection.

“What they say about America is right: When you have ambition and desire and you work hard, your dreams really can come true,� said Bekeran, a naturalized citizen since last summer. “Opportunities are available for anyone — no matter your religion, where you were born, where you came from or whether you speak with an accent.�

The practicing Muslim, whose first name means “holy� and last name, “immense� in Farsi, plans to discuss the value of “education as a weapon against ignorance, injustice and violence� at the ceremony, which begins at 5 p.m.

Addressing approximately 10,000 graduates and guests from the largest academic unit within UCLA is a long way from Kabul, where Bekeran was born and raised as the youngest of seven children in a politically active family that shunned the mujahidin.

Prior to Soviet occupation, her father, an official in Afghanistan’s equivalent of the State Department, served in a series of prominent positions, including governor of Kandahar and mayor of Mazar-e-Sharif. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Abdulrahman Bekeran was serving as the governor of Paktia, the province where, two decades later, the U.S. government would hunt for Osama bin Laden in its cavernous mountains.

“Other governors were killed in the overthrow, but average citizens showed up at our house with big trucks and said we’ll protect you and move you,� Bekeran said.

Haunted by Abdulrahman Bekeran’s refusal to join the Communist Party, the family ended up fleeing to Pakistan in the winter of 1989, a treacherous exodus that involved hiking by night through a snowy killing field created by Soviet patrols.

“I saw so many dead bodies and skeletons that my motto in life became ‘peace,’� said Bekeran, who was 13 at the time.

In 1993 the family successfully petitioned the U.S. government for political asylum. After relocating to the United States, the Bekerans settled in Redondo Beach, where the second oldest of Bekeran’s four brothers had purchased an auto repair shop. Bekeran, already fluent in four languages, learned English from scratch, beginning as a junior at Mira Costa High School.

But even in the United States, her travails had not ended. When a heart attack claimed her father six months after the family’s arrival in the United States, Bekeran lost her only ally against an arranged marriage that she opposed. So after she graduated from high school, she succumbed to pressure to make good on a promise made in Pakistan. In 1995 she returned Pakistan to marry a man who she alleges physically abused her.

“My family thought that once you get engaged you have to get married or you’ll ruin the family name,� she said. “I was very weak and very young and very vulnerable so I went along. But from the beginning, the marriage was a disaster.�

She managed to return to the United States under the pretext of setting in motion an application for her husband’s immigration to the states. Having finally found the courage to stand up to her family, Bekeran decided to abandon the marriage.

“I want to help Afghan women because I don’t want them to go through what I went through,� Bekeran said.

Back in the United States, Bekeran enrolled first in a public vocational training program and then — at the advice of an employer — at a community college. At El Camino College, she excelled in courses in political science and law, eventually graduating as valedictorian.

In an attempt to encourage Bekeran to consider enrolling in a four-year university, a mentor brought her in 1995 to UCLA’s Westwood campus. Initially struck by the campus’ beauty, Bekeran was most impressed by another detail.

“I saw students walking around campus with their backpacks, and they looked exhausted,� she said. “I felt it must be a challenging school, and I love a challenge.�

Bekeran transferred in 2000 to UCLA, where she found support for her decision to leave her marriage. Meanwhile, she flourished in political science courses, where her personal experiences elevated class discussion. After Sept. 11, Bekeran’s e-mail queue flooded with
messages from former classmates in a communications seminar where she had taken the Taliban to task.

“At the time, my classmates said I had been too hard on the Taliban, but after Sept. 11, they said, ‘You were right,’� she recalled.

But people not familiar with Bekeran’s political orientation viewed the refugee with suspicion after terrorists with Taliban links turned commercial airliners into weapons of destruction.

“Just because I am Afghan, people have blamed me for what happened,� she said. “But I was horrified by all the innocent people who died at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. My heart also went out to Afghanistan. It was very difficult to watch the bombing of the country where my family has such deep roots. I love both countries so much and I have respect for all human beings equally — no matter where they come from.�

If Bekeran felt uncomfortable since Sept. 11, she also flourished. She has returned to her starting point in the U.S. educational system — Mira Costa High — but this time as a paid tutor. The Afghan Women’s Mission, a Pasadena-based charity that raises money for schools and hospitals in Afghanistan, enlisted Bekeran as a spokesperson. In January she signed on as an intern at a field office of Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice).

Bekeran wants eventually to go to law school and follow her late father into politics. She dreams either of serving in Congress or working for the United Nations.

“I want to fight for more than Afghan women — I want to fight for human rights,� she said.

In the meantime, Bekeran has been invited to return after graduation to her homeland with a Maryland-based group devoted to improving educational opportunities in Afghanistan for women and children.

“Education has helped me survive and fight my battles,� Bekeran said. “I want to be able to pass that weapon along to other women. I know returning to Afghanistan is dangerous, but that’s not going to stop me from fighting this battle.�