wfn.org | Desmond Tutu Peace Center launched in New York

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Note #6166 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

25-August-2000
00303

Desmond Tutu Peace Center launched in New York

Cape Town center will offer "encounter with a vision of hope"

by James Solheim 
Episcopal News Service

NEW YORK CITY -- A star-studded audience packed into an auditorium of the
South African Consulate in New York earlier this summer to launch the
Desmond Tutu Peace Center.
	The center will be located in Cape Town, South Africa, where Tutu served as
Anglican archbishop for many years, but supported by a foundation based in
Seattle and headed by Dean
Robert Taylor of St. Mark's Cathedral. The dean is a South African who was
helped by Tutu to escape military service during the apartheid regime.
	"I have given my name to an institution that will foster vision,
understanding and the building of bridges," Tutu, who recently returned to
South Africa after an extended stay in the U.S., said.
	The center will be a multi-disciplinary, interactive facility where
visitors and scholars will be able to encounter a vision of hope for Africa
-- and a place where they will join in the creation of that vision.
	"Among the most turbulent and violent periods of South Africa's modern
history have walked men and women of peace and hope. Among these great
spirits is Desmond Mpilo Tutu," said Chris Ahrends, executive director of
the center. "The Peace Center will honor the quality of the contribution and
leadership that the archbishop and others have made to peaceful change in
South Africa."
	Joining Tutu for the June 15 event were many of those who have supported
him through the darkest days of apartheid, including film director Spike
Lee, actors and singers Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and Cicely Tyson, as
well as a strong representation of civic and church leaders from Africa and
the United States.

	Creating a vision

	The center, scheduled to open in the fall of 2003, will include the Desmond
Tutu Leadership Academy, designed to promote leadership, vision and
excellence in southern Africa as a partner with leading universities in
South Africa and the United States. A special chair for leadership
development and future studies, established by three leading universities in
southern Africa, will be housed at the academy.
	A Tutu Library will house the archbishop's personal archives and serve as a
resource for researchers and scholars, dedicated to promoting peace in
Africa and the rest of the world.
	An interactive visitor facility will describe the broad, historic narrative
of Africa, including the struggle against apartheid.
	The work of the center will be supported by private and corporate
donations, as well as by the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, based in
Seattle. The initial goal for support of the
center is $35 million.     
	According to its mission statement, "the Desmond Tutu Peace Center is a
place, born out of the South African experience, inspired by the spirit of
Desmond Tutu, where the visitor and scholar encounters a vision of hope for
Africa, and is empowered to participate in the creation of that vision."
	It will be a "world-class African landmark, bringing together a rich mix of
technology, education, entertainment and research," according to promotional
material, but also challenging visitors to "confront the future, yet be a
place of reflection and integration."

	The vision of reconciliation

	At the launch ceremony, Taylor said, "We have all known the sweet taste of
a vision of reconciliation, hope and justice held up by Archbishop Tutu, who
has always invited people to taste it and know its life and power."
	In accepting the invitation to serve as first president of the foundation,
Taylor said that it would be the "partner and collegial organization" of the
Peace Center in Cape Town and share its commitment "to a work and vision
that is without border . . . committed to its success by being the
fundraising arm for the center in this country."
	In developing programs to live out the commitment to the vision in the
context of American culture, Taylor said that the board of directors and
operating committee will build a network of affiliate colleges and
universities. They will be connected to the center in Cape Town and to one
another in "developing curriculum components that incorporate the work of
reconciliation in a variety of disciplines."
	Another component, he said, "will be directed to the creation of curricula
components that can be used by religious congregations to teach and embody
the vision of reconciliation."
	Taylor also expressed the hope of establishing a Desmond Tutu Leadership
Academy in this country, "working with young people -- exploring, equipping
and committing to leadership that is rooted in reconciliation in our
multicultural, multiethnic democracy."

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