In the first such acts by an institution of higher learning, the University of North Florida, United States, has installed a bronze statue of the apostle of non-violence gifted to the varsity by the local Indian American community on the occasion of the 137th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
At a ceremonial event on October 1 at the university's campus, an eight-feet bronze statue mounted on a four-feet pedestal was installed in a sylvan setting in the campus in the presence of university officials, community leaders and Indian's Consul General in Houston, S M Gavai.
The sculpture, which has been imported from Ahmedabad, has been made by Jasu Ben Shilpi. Shilpi, who has sculpted similar statues before, was present during the formal installation of the statue.
"My long-cherished dream came true with the installation of Gandhi's statue," Dr Satya Pachori, a retired University of North Florida professor, who conceived the project, told rediff.com.
The concept gained ground after Pachori floated the idea during a community meeting in Houston in October 2004. Once the university approved of the project, members of the community formed a body called Gandhi Memorial Society to implement what was known as Project Nobleman.
"We raised about $70,000, mainly through private donation to complete the project," Pachori said.
Incidentally, the University of North Florida shares its birthday with the Mahatma as the former threw its gates open to public for learning on October 2, 1972. Pachori, who has been associated with the University right from the beginning serving in various capacities, including chairman of the department of English, before his retirement a couple of years ago, said the objective of the Gandhi Society is to focus entirely on the applied aspects of Gandhi's philosophy of human values, truth, non-violence and peace.
"Gandhi Society envisions the role of a facilitator for promoting awareness and practice of Gandhi's philosophy," he said, adding that the dedication of the statue of Gandhi on UNF Campus will be a means to encourage thoughts towards human values as propounded by Gandhi.
The society, which is headed by R Vashi and Ashok Bazaz, chairman and president respectively, feels that the sculpture would hopefully motivate a few students on the campus and those few, in turn, might be inspired to make a difference to the world.
John Delaney, president of UNF, who was among the 300 gusts at the event, said the university was grateful to the community for the wonderful gift. "I hope this statue would disseminate the message of peace, non-violence and social justice both among students and the members of the faculty," Delaney said.
