Arun Gandhi, grandson of the late Mahatma K. Gandhi, will deliver the Roy S. Nicks Distinguished Lecture on March 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Culp Center Ballroom.
Gandhi, who is the founder and director of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, will speak on “Lessons from Grandfather.”
At the age of 12, Gandhi, who grew up in apartheid South Africa, visited his legendary grandfather in India for 18 months. It was then that he gained insight into his powerful philosophy of nonviolence, which helped shape the foundation of what would be his life’s work.
“He will be sharing insights that he gained while spending time with his grandfather as a young lad and also his studies of his grandfather in subsequent years,” said Dr. Russ West, interim chair of the department of educational leadership and policy analysis at ETSU.
Gandhi came to the United States in 1988 to complete research for a comparative study on racism in America. In 1991, he and his wife founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, which promotes and teaches the philosophy of nonviolence.
“He travels all over the world now and shares his insights on approaches to taking a path of nonviolence,” West said. “He advocates using his grandfather’s philosophy and methods to deal with conflict and to help people overcome oppression.”
“He is quite an internationally renowned speaker,” West said.
Gandhi has spoken before audiences in countries all over the world including Croatia, France, Ireland, Holland, Lithuania and Nicaragua.
The ETSU College of Education’s department of educational leadership and policy analysis sponsors the lecture series, named in honor of the former president of ETSU.
It was established to provide funds to be used each year to bring in regional, national, or international speakers to speak on issues related to leadership, West said.
“This year we’re fortunate to be able to co-sponsor this event with several other organizations,” West said.
Co-sponsors are the Student Government Association, ETSU Leadership House, the College of Education, Alpha Xi Delta Sorority and University Productions.
“We’re very excited about having him come and there seems to be a lot of interest in the community,” West said.
The lecture is free of charge and open to the public.
For more information on Gandi’s lecture, call the department of educational leadership and policy analysis at (423) 439-4430 or the Center for Student Life and Leadership at 439-5675.

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