Media Release |
Feb. 10, 2004
Four world visionaries for peace to receive honorary degrees
from UBC
Four diverse individuals who have worked tirelessly in the
name of global peace, nonviolence and human rights will receive
honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from UBC in a special degree
conferral this spring.
Three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates -- His Holiness the XIVth
Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Professor Shirin Ebadi
-- as well as the former president of the Czech Republic Vaclav
Havel will receive their degrees on Monday, April 19 at 9
a.m. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. The
Dalai Lama will then deliver the keynote address to open a
two-day academic conference, Tibet in the Contemporary
World, presented by UBC’s Institute of Asian Research/Centre
for Chinese Research.
"These unique individuals inspire us with their extraordinary
vision and their commitment to freedom and humanity,"
said UBC President Martha Piper. "They are known and
admired for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions to serious
problems in society."
"It is an honour for UBC to recognize their contributions
and celebrate their presence in our community."
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of
the Tibetan people and a world leader for peace and the environment.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 in recognition of
his efforts to peacefully resolve the political relationship
between Tibet and the People’s Republic of China. He
has lived in exile in north India since 1959.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was one of the most
instrumental leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South
Africa. As Anglican bishop of Johannesburg, Secretary-General
of the South African Council of Churches and Archbishop of
Cape Town, he championed the transition to a non-racial democratic
society. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his
leadership in that struggle.
Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize, is a lawyer and human rights activist.
The first Iranian and first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel
Prize, she has worked for three decades to improve the status
of women and the rights of religious minorities. She has argued
for a new interpretation of Islamic law incorporating such
human rights as democracy, equality before the law and religious
freedom.
Vaclav Havel suffered years of hardship
and was incarcerated several times for his advocacy of human
rights and peaceful political change in Czechoslovakia. A
writer of numerous plays and books, he was twice elected president
of the Czech Republic. Under his leadership, he abolished
the death penalty, closed the arms factories, released political
prisoners and encouraged social reform and reconciliation.
The four leaders will participate in a Roundtable Dialogue
entitled Balancing Educating the Mind With Educating the
Heart on Tuesday, April 20 at 12:30 p.m. at the Chan
Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. They will join Rabbi
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Dr. Jo-ann Archibald and other visionary
thinkers to discuss how compassion and reason can inform current
policy challenges in such areas as community building and
sustainable development. Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese
of New Westminster will chair the event.
General Information: For more information
on the full Vancouver schedule, please visit the Web site:
www.dalailamavancouver.org.
Media Advisory: Please note that journalists
are welcome to cover the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
to Vancouver. Information about the visit, media opportunities
and press credentials will be updated in upcoming days at
the Press Centre at www.dalailamavancouver.org.
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