College

Gandhi Institute Moves to Rochester

STUDYING NONVIOLENCE: Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. Gandhi and founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, presents a school textbook signed by his grandfather to Rush Rhees Library at the June announcement of the institute’s move to the University.

Students, faculty, and the community will have a new internationally focused resource at the University to study nonviolence, as the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence relocates its headquarters to campus.

Arun Ghandi, the grandson of Indian humanitarian Mohandas K. Gandhi and founder of the institute, announced the move in June. A frequent visitor to the University, where he has been a guest lecturer in classes taught by his friend Robert Holmes, professor of philosophy, Gandhi worked with New York State Assemblyman David Koon to arrange the move to the River Campus.

“The people at the University and in the Rochester community have been very open and welcoming,” Gandhi said in making the announcement. “The University is a place where we come to open our minds and learn of new things. I feel that we will be able to achieve much more over the next few years because everyone has been so receptive.”

Currently located in Memphis, Tennessee, the institute was founded in 1991 by Gandhi and his late wife, Sunanda, and offers programs that teach the theory and practice of nonviolence to young people and adults. Advocating the peaceful methods that his grandfather used to secure Indian independence from Great Britain, Gandhi travels across the United States and abroad as a speaker and lecturer.

The institute sponsors two national conferences a year; offers programs for middle, high school, and college-age students; and provides diversity and nonviolence training workshops and seminars to churches, service organizations, and other interested groups. Students will be able to participate in internships at the institute.

“The Gandhi Institute will provide new opportunities, both academic and extracurricular, that will enrich the student experience,” says Richard Feldman, dean of the College. “We’re delighted that Mr. Gandhi has chosen to base the institute on our campus.”

The institute’s research library, which includes the 100 volumes of Mohandas Gandhi’s writings as well as other research material, videos, audiotapes, and photographs, will move to the University. Gandhi plans to reach out to the local interfaith community on new programming and events, which will be coordinated by a community relations officer.