Arun Gandhi, grandson of the celebrated Mohandas K. Gandhi, will speak at Marquette today as part of Mission Week 2005.

He will give his lecture, "Lessons My Grandfather Taught Me," at 4 p.m. in the Varsity Theatre, said Stephanie Russell, executive director of the Office of Mission and Identity.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, practiced law in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, where he witnessed the racial discrimination suffered by the people of South Africa, said Phillip Naylor, associate professor in the history department.

While in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi "found that one of the best ways to approach discrimination was through nonviolence," Naylor said.

In 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India, where he "initiated policies of noncooperation" and "satyagraha," or nonviolent resistance, against British rule in India, Naylor said.

An "extremist Hindu" assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, Naylor said.

Shaped by his grandfather's beliefs, Arun Gandhi founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in 1991 and is "actively involved in peacemaking," Russell said.

"Constitute of a Marquette education is the desire to be a person of service and justice and to live one's life with integrity," Russell said. "Mahatma Gandhi was a person whose life exemplified that kind of commitment. Arun Gandhi has a unique and important perspective on his grandfather's life."

The Mission Week Steering Committee invited Arun Gandhi to speak at the keynote address during Mission Week 2005, Russell said.

Matthew Manning, a College of Arts & Sciences junior and member of the Steering Committee, said Gandhi will "talk in a very real way about how his grandfather's lessons of nonviolence can be applied today."

According to the Rev. Douglas J. Leonhardt, associate executive director of the Office of Mission and Identity, Gandhi's message of nonviolence fits with Christian doctrine.

"We chose Mr. Gandhi to come because of his message of peace that is opposed to violence," Leonhardt said. "It's the Christian message of Jesus Christ — to make friends with your enemies and to achieve peace with love rather than war."

Tickets for the event, which are free, are sold out, Russell said, but students can check for returned tickets at the Brooks Lounge in the Alumni Memorial Union.

"Tickets will be redistributed at a first-come, first-serve basis," she said.

Immediately following the lecture, a reception will be held at 5 p.m. in the AMU Ballrooms, Russell said.

After the reception, an Interfaith Prayer Service will be held at 7 p.m. in the Henke Lounge of the AMU, Russell said.

The events are sponsored by the Office of Mission and Identity, she said.

Past Mission Week keynote speakers have included Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and leader of the Solidarity movement, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Martin Luther King III, Russell said.

"This is part of what a Marquette education is," Leonhardt said. "It's not just about academic learning — it's an education of the whole person."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 3 2005.