WCSU's spirit of cooperation receives high praise

Several thousand community members know by now that in October, we were paid an unprecedented visit by His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. And although the Dalai Lama frequents college campuses (he also visited Syracuse University, College of William and Mary, Middlebury College, MIT, Brown University and Rockefeller University on this East Coast spin), we feel honored that Western was included in this list of larger, private and very well-known schools. Why WCSU, we’ve been asked more than once since.

Why not us? Our proximity to and collaboration with Do Ngak Kunphen Ling (DNKL), the Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace in Redding, which “offers classes, advice and training in Buddhist moral discipline, meditative concentration, and transformative wisdom” was instrumental in cementing the visit. Years of preparation by both groups for the two days of teachings in Danbury ensured that every detail was attended to and not one hitch was experienced in a laundry list of potential hitches, including the weather, the security, moving and controlling masses of people and the transportation. The campus community came together in a remarkable spirit of cooperation, and we are in the habit of doing this, without exception, for every event we host. An outside observer, a volunteer in His Holiness’s entourage, told us that we were the best organized of all his stops on this circuit. Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa, the Spiritual Director at DNKL, concurred, “The university has undertaken extraordinary efforts to make today a wonderful and historic event for our community. Our work together has developed a warm and lasting friendship between DNKL and our friends at WCSU. We pray for their continued success in educating thoughtful, ethical and happy students.”

We know that a very high bar has been set for future speakers, not only in attracting those of stature and wide-spread appeal, but in the cooperative effort required to pull off such an event. At Western, we are committed to performing at our best. We will continue to offer world-class opportunities for our students and community, and we look forward to the day, in the not too distant future, when the world outside our campuses expects no less of us.