Campus News

Rockford, Ill., – Rockford University will be hosting Rajmohan Gandhi, Ph.D., grandson of Mahatma Gandhi , on their campus as part of their fall 2014 Forum series. Dr. Gandhi will be interviewed be Rockford University President Robert L. Head, Ph.D. The interview will be held Wednesday, September 17, 6 p.m., in Maddox Theatre, Clark Arts Center, 5050 E. State St., Rockford.

Dr. Gandhi is currently a research professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has been involved with Initiatives of Change, an organization that strives to transform society by enacting change in individual lives and relationships, since 1956. He has worked for more than half a century to engage in trust-building, reconciliation and democracy in the fight against corruption and inequality.

Over his career Dr. Gandhi has received numerous humanitarian, peacemaking and writing awards. He led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1990 and in 2004 received the International Humanitarian Award from the city of Champaign. He has also served as a jury member for the Nuremburg International Human Rights Award and as co-chair for the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation in Gurgaon, India. In 2007 he was awarded the Bennial Award from the Indian History Congress for a biography of his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi: A True Story of a Man, His People, and an Empire.

During his interview, Dr. Gandhi will focus on questions regarding human rights, social justice, nonviolence, the Indian independence movement, his work, and his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi. Following his interview, on September 18, Dr. Gandhi will be the guest speaker at the Violence Prevention Collaborative 15th Annual Peace Awards Luncheon and Workshop at the Radisson Hotel in Rockford.

This interview is open and free to the public, however, tickets are required. Please contact the Rockford University Box Office at 815-226-4100 or boxoffice@rockford.edu to reserve your tickets or for more information. Clark Arts Center is accessible. To see the entire fall 2014 series line-up visit: https://www.rockford.edu/? ForumSeries.

For more about the 15th Annual Peace Awards luncheon and workshop, visit: http://www.wchd.org/contentPage.asp?pgID=500.