PHOENIX — A Nobel Prize-winning activist was reportedly turned away from attending a children’s museum in Phoenix during her visit to the Valley.
Malala Yousafzai, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2015 for her work on global education reform, visited the Valley on Wednesday for a speaking engagement.
A note was posted on the Children’s Museum of Phoenix’s social media accounts apologizing for turning her away because she was an “unaccompanied adult.”
The Children’s Museum of Phoenix has a strict policy of not allowing adults without children into their museum.
“We take the safety of your little visitors very seriously and do everything we can to ensure that their time at the Museum is safe and secure,” said Marion Wiener, the Director of Marketing and Communications with the Children’s Museum of Phoenix. “[This] means not allowing adults in that do not have children with them unless they call beforehand and/or visit and identify themselves as someone interested in early childhood development. We have a process for that that allows them to tour the Museum with an escort.”
The Children’s Museum told 12News that Yousafzai didn’t identify herself, and museum staff wasn’t expecting her.
“On Wednesday, the staff member that spoke with Ms. Yousafzai and her husband at our admissions desk did not recognize her, and Ms. Yousafzai humbly did not identify who she was or ask for any special treatment.” Kate Wells, the CEO of the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, said.
Yousafzai gained international fame when she was just 11 years old and stood up publicly against the Taliban and for educational rights for girls. As her spotlight grew, so did the ire of the Taliban, who, in 2012, attempted to assassinate her as she sat in her school bus.
She still carries the scars and nerve damage from the gunman’s bullet, but he failed to stop her from advocating for girls’ rights worldwide. In 2015, Yousafzai was recognized for her work in raising awareness of the threat to girls’ education in Pakistan, becoming, at the time, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
Yousafzai was in Phoenix on Wednesday for an event with the Arizona Speakers Series. That’s when Wells first heard about the missed connection.
“As an admirer of Ms. Youafzai, I was in the audience when she mentioned the Museum, and promptly reached out to the Arizona Speakers Series that night - and was in communication with Ms. Yousafzai’s team the following morning with our sincere apology and an invitation to tour the Museum.”
Yousafzai was already on to her next speaking engagement by that point, but her team told the museum that the next time she and her husband were in Phoenix, they would take Wells up on her offer.
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