You are here: Home Communications Pressroom News The Dalai Lama Meets with Students and Scholars at Hunter and Accepts President's Medal

The Dalai Lama Meets with Students and Scholars at Hunter and Accepts President's Medal

His Holiness the Dalai Lama spent the morning of May 23 at Hunter College, first at a meeting of Chinese-American scholars at Roosevelt House, then with students at a conference on Chinese-Tibetan relations. Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab began the day's activities by presenting His Holiness with a President's Medal.

"Your words and your deeds have lifted our spirits, renewed our optimism, and replenished our faith," said President Raab, thanking him for making the world "a better place." She also acknowledged the appropriateness of bestowing the award at the home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, who, like His Holiness, "never ceased to uphold the eternal values of honesty, compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness."

President Raab also referred to the watch FDR gave as a gift to the young Dalai Lama, which His Holiness himself said he fondly recalled as soon as he entered Roosevelt House.

He was characteristically humble in accepting the award, calling himself "nothing special," yet acknowledging his lifelong commitment to the promotion of world peace and the celebration of universal human values.

The Dalai Lama's visit to Hunter College was part of a four-day long engagement in New York. Following his keynote address at the student conference in a Hunter lecture hall where he answered questions from students, he returned to Radio City Music Hall and then the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for his final public talk of the weekend.

Document Actions
HUNTER COLLEGE
695 Park Ave
NY, NY 10065
212.772.4000