Commencement
Speaker: Archbishop Tutu
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for
his non-violent opposition to apartheid in South Africa
and his contribution to the cause of racial justice,
will be Penn's Commencement Speaker on Monday, May 19.
That evening,
Archbishop Tutu will speak at an event co-sponsored by
the University, the World Affairs Council and the de Tocqueville
Society of the United Way.
This
will be his second visit to Penn; in January of 1986,
he delivered the keynote address at the University's
Martin Luther King Commemoration. He spoke on the struggle
for racial equality; he has been an outspoken proponent
of economic pressure to bring reform of South Africa's
policy of racial separation. He has formulated his objective
as "a democratic and just society without racial
division."
Currently,
Archbishop Tutu is Chancellor of the University of the
Western Cape. He holds honorary degrees from numerous
universities, including Harvard, Oxford, and Columbia.
In addition to his Nobel Prize, he has received the Order
for Meritorious Service Award (Gold) presented by President
Nelson Mandela, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Award
for outstanding service to the Anglican Communion, the
Prix d'Athene (Onassis Foundation), the Family of Man
Gold Medal Award and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-Violent
Peace Prize.
In
1995, President Mandela appointed Archbishop Tutu to
head the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1998,
the commission submitted its first official report to
President Mandela, marking yet another significant step
in the struggle for justice both in South Africa and
the world. He retired from office as Archbishop of Cape
Town in 1996, but was then named Archbishop Emeritus.
He is the author of Crying in the Wilderness. The
Struggle for Justice in South Africa; Hope and
Suffering: Sermons and Speeches; and The Rainbow
People of God: The Making of a Peaceful Revolution.
Tutu is now working on two new books, one chronicling
the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
the other, transfiguration.
In
1975, Archbishop Tutu was appointed as Dean of St. Mary's
Cathedral in Johannesburg, the first place to hold that
position. The following year, he was elected Bishop of
Lesotho. By this time, South Africa was in the wake of
the 1976 Soweto uprising and in turmoil. He left his
diocese to take up the post of General Secretary of the
South African Council of Churches (SACC); he was the
first black in that role. It was in this position, a
post he held from 1978 until 1985, that he became a national
and international figure. He represented 12 million Christians
of all races during that time. |