OXFORD — With its stately brick buildings and sunny terrain, Miami University is a picturesque place for students to enjoy.

However, incoming freshmen were momentarily plucked from the idealistic school to the war-ravaged country of Sudan at Friday's convocation, which featured keynote speaker Dave Eggers, the writer who penned "What is the What," this year's required reading for freshmen.

The novel is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee of the Sudanese civil war who is now a sophomore in a college in Pennslyvania.

Sudanese refugee Alex Peel spoke at the convocation in place of Deng, who is in Sudan for the summer.

"The entire country of Africa is crying," Peel said. "And Sudan is worse off than Darfur because it is not covered by the media."

Peel urged the new students to take advantage of their educational opportunities.

"The education is yours, no one can take that away from you," Peel said.

Eggers showed slides from his trips to Sudan, which included an image of a deserted and ransacked classroom and a family that had escaped slavery.

All proceeds from the book go toward helping Sudan, Eggers said, adding that Miami's bulk purchase of the book allowed for additional planning for schools and city facilities.

"We could plan to build more in Sudan," Eggers said. "It's a magnificent thing."

Members of the audience said they were moved by the speakers' message.

"I thought it was really touching. It was definitely impactful," said Ally Morgan, a freshman.

"These people just want to learn in school, and here we're lucky enough to have our parents paying for this great education," Morgan said.

"When (Peel) talked, you wanted to reach out to him," said Sam Bilfield, also a freshman. "It makes you feel more appreciative of what we were given, opposed to the people in the book."