Gandhi speaks on "Powerful Philosophy of Nonviolence" on February 12

SALISBURY, MD ---The name Gandhi is matched by few in world history for its powerful image of integrity, courage, hope and social harmony.

On Wednesday, February 12, Arun Gandhi, grandson of the legendary peace fighter and spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, speaks on the "Powerful Philosophy of Nonviolence," as part of Salisbury University's spring Peace and Conflict Cultural Series. His talk begins at 7 p.m. in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

Growing up in South Africa as a person of Indian heritage meant violent racial confrontations. Filled with rage as a boy, Gandhi subscribed to bodybuilding magazines to help him fight back. When his parents discovered the reason for their 12-year-old son's sudden fascination with exercise, they decided that a visit with his grandfather was in order. What followed was an 18-month stay that would give him the keys to the powerful philosophy of nonviolence and help shape the foundation for his life's work.

At age 23, Arun Gandhi returned to India and worked as a journalist and reporter for The Times of India. He, his wife, Sunanda, and several colleagues founded India's Center for Social Unity, a successful economic initiative whose mission is to alleviate poverty and caste discrimination. The Center's outreach has spread to over 300 villages, improving the lives of more than 500,000 rural Indians.

The Gandhis moved to Mississippi in 1987. At the University of Mississippi in Oxford, they researched race issues present in the American south, color discrimination in South Africa and the caste system in India. In October 1991, they founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN, where Dr. Gandhi is also a scholar-in-residence.

The Institute's mission is to examine, promote, and apply the principles of nonviolent thought and action through research, workshops, seminars and community service.

Author of numerous books and articles, Gandhi and his wife, herself senior researcher at the Institute, have two children and four grandchildren.

With the hope of shedding light on the issues facing the world today, the SU Cultural Affairs Council sponsors a semester-long Peace and Conflict Cultural Series with events that address such questions as: "What role does protest play?" and "Is force ever justified?" Fleshing out the relationship between peace and conflict are several events including visits from the executive director of the Hague Appeal for Peace and a lecture providing historical context for U.S. conflict as a means of expansion.

This event, free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by SU's Center for Conflict Resolution and the Office of Cultural Affairs and Museum Programs. For more information call 410-543-6030.