Miami University President David Hodge presented His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama with an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree Thursday morning in front of an audience of about 500 students and faculty at Hall Auditorium.
The event preceded an afternoon speech with a 10,000-person audience at Millett Hall.
At the morning ceremony, Hodge said, “We are honored to welcome his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to Miami University and recognize his struggle to promote cultural understanding.”
The spiritual leader of Tibet was then presented with the international Harry T. Wilks Leadership Award, an award presented by Wilks himself.
“Today we want to honor a man who has tried to bring peace, understanding and compassion to various cultures, races and religions,” said Wilks, a retired Hamilton attorney and philanthropist whose funded a Miami conference center and lecture series that bear his name.
Following the award, the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies debuted its work on a 3-D model of a sacred mandala, a spiritual guide used by Tibetans in their meditation rituals. The Dalai Lama put on 3-D glasses to view the project and was even able to take a tour of the virtual display.
Hodge thanked the students and staff who worked on the project, indicating his hope that it would contribute to Tibetan culture in the most meaningful of ways.
In his long-anticipated address to the audience, the Dalai Lama emphasized the importance of education and the necessity of diversity within the university setting.
“It is very clear that major traditions, in spite of different philosophies, all have the same goal: To bring inner peace,” the Dalai Lama said. “These traditions provide hope to humanity. It is also important to trust with an open heart, for this is the basis of genuine friendship.”
As he returned to his seat, the Tibetan leader received applause and a standing ovation from the audience.
During a question and answer session that followed, four students and five faculty members queried the Dalai Lama on a range of topics. In response to a question concerning Chinese, Tibetan relations, the Dalai Lama responded with a short answer, “If you want to understand the Chinese-Tibetan relationship, you must investigate history.”
Jessica Sink is a senior history and strategic communication double major.
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