Media Advisory

Arun Gandhi, founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, will present a lecture "Race Relations: Peace by Peace" at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in Shriver Hall Auditorium on the Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St.

Gandhi's speech is part of the 2002 Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium, "Changing Times: Who are We? An Introspective Look at American Identity in the 21st Century," a student-run series examining the influence of various political, social and scientific advances on the collective American identity. The event is free and open to the public.

Arun Gandhi grew up in South Africa under the discriminatory policies of racial apartheid. As a young boy, he was beaten up by black youths for not being black and by white youths because he was not white. Filled with rage and plotting to avenge his beatings, he subscribed to Charles Atlas bodybuilding magazines so he would have the strength to fight back. When his parents discovered the reason for their 12-year-old son's sudden fascination with exercise, they decided that a visit to his grandfather in India was in order. At the time, Mahatma Gandhi was in the midst of his campaign for Indian independence from British rule. Based on his experiences there, Arun Gandhi pledged to lead his life upholding the non-violent and peaceful ideals of his grandfather. He moved to the United States in the late 1980s and in 1991 founded the founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, headquartered at Christian Brothers University in Memphis. Its mission is to foster understanding of nonviolence and to put that philosophy to practical use through workshops, lectures and community outreach programs.

For more information, call (410) 516-7683, visit the MSE Symposium Web site at mse@jhu.edu.

When: 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12
Where: Shriver Hall Auditorium, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore