Some 200 invited guests participated in a special event with the President of the US and the secretary of State. The event included such luminaries as Wole Soyinka and HH the Aga khan, and many well known artists such as Yo Yo Ma and actors Meryl Streep and John Lithgow. There were four roundtable discussions and Ismail Serageldin was asked to moderate one of the roundtables dealing with Cultural diversity.