Weissman Center to Host Naomi Tutu
Posted: February 15, 2008Updated: February 29, 2008 - Listen to the Audio
Mount Holyoke's Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts will present international human rights activist Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Thursday, February 28, at 7:30 pm in Gamble Auditorium.
Tutu's appearance is part of the Weissman Center's spring 2008 Bearing Witness lecture series. Her lecture, titled "Truth and Reconciliation: Healing the Wounds of Racism," will blend her own life story with her observations on divisive society and the promise of communities working to protect and sustain the dignity of all people.
Tutu is an eloquent and vigilant international activist dedicated to securing human rights, ensuring social justice, and advocating for peace. She came of age in apartheid South Africa and has become a global citizen, working on behalf of refugees, women, and those affected by violence. She is a celebrated public speaker and teacher whose career underscores the continued need for social justice and education worldwide, thus extending the work of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, her father and winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize. She has been hailed for her courageous advocacy and inspiring determination, especially for her efforts to support South African refugees as they prepared to negotiate the transition into a post-apartheid and free South Africa.
An educator who specializes in topics of development, gender, and education, Tutu has been on the faculty of the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut, and Brevard College. A graduate of Berea College, where she majored in economics and French, she pursued graduate studies in international development, economics, and diplomatic affairs at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and international economic development at the University of Kentucky. Her recent administrative posts have included positions as program coordinator for the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town, program coordinator of the Race Relations Institute at Fisk University, and associate director of the Office of International Relations and Programs at Tennessee State University. She has received substantial recognition for her leadership and achievements, including honorary degrees from the Universal Orthodox College of Ogun State in Nigeria and Bentley College in Massachusetts. She also has been honored by the Boston City Council, California State Legislature, Outstanding Youth Women of America, and Who's Who of Africans in America.
Tutu has sustained her commitment to education and global outreach through her work as a consultant, motivational speaker, and retreat leader. In her work as a consultant, she has worked with the United States Agency for International Development and South African-based groups such as the Entabeni Consulting Group. She has worked with a range of nongovernmental organizations and with Sister Sojourner, a group that she cofounded with Rose Bator in 2002 to bring South African and American women together for leadership retreats in Cape Town, South Africa.
Bearing Witness is a yearlong series exploring the issues of testimony, the politics of advocacy, and the multiple ways in which acts of witnessing enable, educate, and inspire us. The spring program will also feature educator Rose Bator, political commentator Jim Hightower, legal activist Terry Davis, law professor Margaret Burnham, and artist Rachel Rosenthal.
The lecture is free, open to the public, and accessible to all.
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Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts