Emory Report homepage  

March 24, 2008
University statement on Tibet

Our thoughts are with our friend and colleague, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as he seeks a nonviolent resolution of the conflict in Tibet. We remain deeply committed to continuing our programs in Tibetan religion, culture and language, both on our Atlanta campus and in Dharamsala and southern India, as a way of preserving and fostering greater understanding of Tibet’s unique heritage of learning.

At the same time, our relationships in China are also extensive and historic, and we fully honor and value the principled commitments we have made with our academic partners in Beijing, Nanjing and elsewhere in China. Perhaps more than any other institution, universities stand for the belief in nonviolent resolution of difference — for the solution of difficulties by means of discourse, openness and free inquiry — and we trust that our academic partners in China understand and share Emory’s devotion to this principle.

International education is a cornerstone of Emory University. In recent years the Emory community has shown particular interest in fostering open dialogue about some of the world’s most complex problems, from the Middle East stalemate to the racial history of our own university. Respectful dialogue about the way forward for China and Tibet is an example of the kind of conversation the University seeks to promote in nonviolent ways.

President Jim Wagner
March 19, 2008