Dalai Lama honoured with 15th Spendlove Prize
DHARAMSALA, 22 Sept: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been honoured with the 15th Spendlove Prize for his messages of kindness, peace, compassion, and forgiveness.
The Dalai Lama was awarded the 15th annual Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance through a virtual ceremony on Sep 18, media reports said.
A pre-recorded showing of the presentation on Monday, 26 Sept. will celebrate the 15th prize recipient that annually honours an individual who can serve as a role model and inspirational figure for students, faculty and the community surrounding UC Merced.
The award citation stated that while the Tibetan Nobel laureate has to undergo unfathomable injustice and “had to flee Tibet for India as a young man to escape the genocide of his followers and the eradication of his culture by the Chinese government,” he “repeatedly responded with a generosity of spirit and love for his victimizer.”
“In our increasingly politically-divided and highly confrontational world, the messages of kindness, peace, compassion, and forgiveness of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, are helpful, not only in advancing sustainable social justice using non-violent methods but also as a path to better interpersonal relations and a more meaningful life.”
The Octogenarian Tibetan leader now joins the likes of Merced native and Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree, Jr., UC Santa Cruz Professor Faye Crosby; 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Peter Balakian, a leading voice of Armenian Genocide recognition; attorney and Professor Anita F. Hill; 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú Tum; human rights activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nadia Murad; and civil rights activist and Black Lives Matter Global Network co-founder Alicia Garza among others who have all received the Spendlove Prize. The prize has an annual value of $15,000.
