Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, he is the Former General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches and the Former Bishop of Johannesburg. He is the author of Crying in the Wilderness, Hope and Suffering: Sermons and Speeches, The Rainbow People of God, The Essential Desmond Tutu, and most recently, No Future without Forgiveness.

He was appointed Chairperson of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission by President Nelson Mandela.

Click here for a brief biography.

Program

Welcome
Patricia Kepler, Interim University Chaplain

Message from Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow

Sherman Teichman addresses the audience

Presentation of the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award by EPIIC (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship) as part of its 2002 Global Inequities theme
Sherman Teichman, Director, Institute for Global Leadership/EPIIC
Alexander Busse '04, EPIIC Colloquium

Reading on Peace
Noureddine Hawat, Muslim Affiliate Chaplain

Introduction of Music
Lisa Coleman, Director, Africana Center

Music
"Wanting Memories" and "Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika"

Essence, Student Singing Group
Abigail Akande '04, Kaity Colon '03, Nadia Exama '05, Betsaida Garcia '02, Claire Johnson '05, Leah King '04, Candice Lewis '05, Rebecca McCormick '03, Sarah Sutton '04, Seanna Walsh '04, Sarah Yamani '02

Introduction of Russell Lecture
Joseph Walser, Chair, Department of Religion

Alex Busse with Archbishop Tutu

Introduction of Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Steven Bonsey, Episcopal/Protestant Associate Chaplain
Marlon Thomas '04, Protestant Student Fellowship

The Address
Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Discussion
Moderated by Patricia Kepler and Sherman Teichman

Expression of Appreciation
Jeffrey Summit, Associate Chaplain and Hillel Director

Music
"Voluntary and Orison for Desmond Mpilo Tutu (2002) For Piano"
John McDonald, Piano, Chair, Music Department

Benediction
David O'Leary, Associate Chaplain and Catholic Center Director

Presented by
The University Chaplaincy and EPIIC/Institute for Global Leadership

Co-Sponsored by
The Department of Comparative Religion, Africana Center, Catholic Center, Fletcher Roundtable on a New World Order, Granoff Family Hillel Center, Islamic Center, Peace & Justice Studies, and the Protestant Ministry

Brief Biography

A man of immense moral authority, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was one of the leading figures in the fight against apartheid in South Africa and has acted as an unofficial human rights ambassador around the world.

Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp in the North West Province of South Africa. He attended school in Johannesburg, obtained a teachers' diploma at the Pretoria Bantu Normal College in 1953 and in 1954 got his B.A. degree through the University of South Africa. After teaching in Krugersdorp, he went for ordination training at St Peter's Theological College in 1958, and became a deacon in 1960, serving in Benoni Location, and a priest in1961.

Living in England from 1962 to 1966, he worked as a curate and obtained his Master's Degree in Theology. Returning to South Africa, he lectured at the Federal Theological Seminary in the Cape and at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland until 1975. Archbishop Tutu was consecrated Bishop of Lesotho in 1976 and became General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches in 1978.

The government confiscated his passport in reprisal for his call for an international boycott of South African coal in 1980. In 1984, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his nonviolent campaign to limit international trade and investment activities in South Africa. The Archbishop established the Southern African Refugee Scholarship Fund with his Nobel Peace Prize Fund, enabling disadvantaged students to further their studies.

He became Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985, and Archbishop of Cape Town and head of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa in 1986. He has received numerous awards, prizes and honorary degrees from all over the world. His publications include Crying in the Wilderness, Hope and Suffering, The Rainbow People of God, and most recently, No Future without Forgiveness.

After retiring as Archbishop in 1996, he was chosen by President Mandela to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and presided over the traumatic revelation of the secrets of apartheid.

"Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu or botho. It means the essence of being human. You know when it is there and when it is absent. It speaks about humanness, gentleness, hospitality, putting yourself out on behalf of others, being vulnerable. It embraces compassion and roughness. It recognizes that my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."
-Desmond Tutu

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.