Renowned Buddhist Monk, Author and Peace Activist to Speak at USD

Thich Nhat Hanh, the well-known Buddhist monk, author and activist, will speak at the University of San Diego Tuesday, Oct. 2.

Thay, or teacher, as Thich Nhat Hanh is often called, has spent his life advocating peace and nonviolence. His protest of the Vietnam War compelled Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Just a few days after the terrorist attacks of 2001, he gave a memorable speech about the issues of non-violence and forgiveness in New York City. He has also led marches against the war in Iraq.

He has published some 85 titles of poems, prose and prayers including “True Love: A Practice for the Awakening Heart,” “Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life” and “Living Buddha, Living Christ.”

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a guided meditation and chant, followed by Thay’s talk at 7 p.m. in USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Tickets for the event will go on sale Aug. 20 at the pavilion box office. Tickets are $10 for the general public and free to college students with a valid I.D. Tickets are also free to USD faculty and staff with I.D. The box office at the pavilion is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The phone number is (619) 260-7550. Tickets also may be purchased online at www.sandiego.edu/socialissues.

Thay is the 2007 keynote speaker for USD’s Center for Christian Spirituality. His talk is also a featured event in USD’s 18th annual Social Issues Conference that brings members of the San Diego community together to build awareness about critical social issues.

“Walking Together in Peace” is the theme of this year’s conference that takes place from Oct. 1-5. Thich Nhat Hanh’s vision inspires the themes for this year’s conference: peace and reconciliation, contemplation and social action, and environment and the climate crisis.

Other conference events include a talk “Peace Building: Both Art and/or Science?” by the Rev. William Headley, founding dean of USD’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and “The Climate Crisis: True or False?” by Douglas Burton-Christie, Ph.D., and founding editor of Spiritus: Journal of Christian Spirituality. For more information about the conference go to www.sandiego.edu/socialissues or call (619) 260-4798.

The University of San Diego is a Catholic institution of higher learning chartered in 1949; the school enrolls approximately 7,500 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The establishment of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies will bring the University’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Education, Law, and Nursing and Health Science.

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About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.