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Thirty-three years ago to the week, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited Syracuse University.

It cost $3 to see the Dalai Lama speak in Hendricks Chapel that Tuesday evening on Oct. 9, 1979, for a lecture hosted by University Union. The Dalai Lama visited SU as part of his 49-day tour of the United States, his first visit stateside. His one-day trip included a press conference in E.S. Bird Library. SU was the only college in New York he visited. He stopped at other colleges across the United States that fall, including Georgetown and Harvard.

Those who attended the Hendricks Chapel lecture were eager to hear from the religious and spiritual leader of Tibet, said Tom Walsh, who was 29 and had just begun working at Syracuse Stage when he attended the lecture.

Walsh said the Dalai Lama appeared gentle and acted at ease, especially when an audience member stood up and announced he did not know what to do with all his anger.

“His Holiness looked at him and smiled and said, ‘You must try to control it.’ And so I have tried to always remember that,” said Walsh, who still keeps the faded orange ticket on his desk as a reminder.

The Dalai Lama returns to Syracuse for the second time Oct. 8. The two-day visit features a series of panel discussions and an evening of music. It’s a much larger event than the first trip and puts SU in the regional spotlight, as well as builds on the university’s growing reputation as an international institution.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for the university to be able to have a world figure of this stature,” Walsh said.

SU officials say this visit only adds to the institution’s already established reputation as an international leader. Brian Spector, SU Alumni Association president, said the visit has sparked alumni discussion and ignited Orange pride. It also serves to remind people that SU is an international player, with visible outreach and academic programs in Turkey, London, Dubai and elsewhere, he said.

Although Spector graduated the year before the Dalai Lama’s first appearance at SU, he looks back fondly on the speakers and musical acts he did see, like Orleans, Bonnie Raitt and Steve Martin.

The One World event could be as meaningful, if not more, to current SU students, Spector said. The One World Concert will feature more than 20 acts, which Spector said is a musical event unparalleled in university history.

“I think we’re going to reap the benefits of this event for so many years to come,” Spector said.

The university has a history of receiving high-profile visitors, including alumni who are globally well known, said SU Reference Archivist Mary O’Brien.

U.S. presidents Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman and Bill Clinton have all visited. Other political heavyweights, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, SU College of Law alumnus and Vice President Joe Biden and both

Teddy and Robert Kennedy have dropped by too.

Lyndon B. Johnson attended the opening of Newhouse I in 1964, when he delivered the “Gulf of Tonkin Speech” on Newhouse Plaza. Martin Luther King Jr. appeared on campus twice, before and after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

This second visit from the Dalai Lama is a much larger production than his first, but the fact that he is returning to SU is no shock to O’Brien.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise with the outreach that we have with the chancellor that we have now,” O’Brien said, referring to Chancellor Nancy Cantor, who has focused on building up SU’s reputation nationally and internationally through academic programs, satellite campuses and her own travels.

Cantor was away on university business and her schedule did not permit an interview for this article, said Kevin Quinn, vice president for public affairs at SU.

The Dalai Lama’s visit “offers us a window into a deeper understanding of the world,” said Tiffany Steinwert, dean of Hendricks Chapel. As a religious leader and a teacher, those who attend the events surrounding his visit have the chance to experience his teaching directly, instead of through his books or other mediums.

Steinwert met the Dalai Lama once before in 2010 during the annual conference of the Association of College and University Religious Affairs at Emory University, an experience she described as both humble and joyful. The Dalai Lama’s visit to SU is “an honor,” she said.

When the Dalai Lama comes to Syracuse, Steinwert said she does not expect his visit will transform the campus overnight — nor should it be expected to.

Students and the campus community should keep the Dalai Lama’s message in mind throughout the year, she said. Students can do that by taking advantage of campus programs, including Many Faiths, One Humanity — a Spring Break study abroad trip to explore global religions and spirituality, she said.

“He’s not there to provide answers,” Steinwert said. “But to help provoke questions.”

Published on October 8, 2012 at 5:05 am

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