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Press Release

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SALISBURY, MD — The Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution mourns the death of Dr. Arun Gandhi, who was affiliated with the Center for 24 years and served as its senior practitioner and conflict scholar-in-residence for nearly two decades. He passed away on May 2, 2023.

Arun Gandhi’s last lecture last week.

In teaching and advocating for non-violence, Gandhi continued the legacy of his grandfather, influential Indian leader Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi.

“For nearly a quarter century, SU students had the rare opportunity to learn about Mohandas ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi directly from someone within his inner family circle,” said Dr. Brian Polkinghorn, Executive Director of the Bosserman Center and SU distinguished professor of Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution.

“Arun played, worked and sometimes even argued with his grandparents while living on the Sabarmati Ashram. Over time Arun learned invaluable lessons from them that he then conveyed directly to our students at SU. We were fortunate to have that window into such a life.

In 2022 at the 30th Anniversary for the Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution.

“Mohandas Gandhi once said ‘People will follow me in life, revere me in death, but no one will make my cause theirs.’  Well, Arun proved that wrong. He took up his grandfather’s cause and for 89 years made nonviolence as a way of life his message to the world.”

Through the Bosserman Center, Arun Gandhi made a lasting impact on many in the Salisbury area. He served as a co-teacher and speaker at SU multiple times and led several groups of SU students on “Gandhi Legacy Tour” study abroad trips. Most recently, he spoke at SU as part of the center’s 30th anniversary celebration in 2022.

I spoke to Arun on Sunday.  He was in good spirits.  He told me he wasn’t coming back to the US.  Luckily, when his time came, he was in the one place on earth where he felt closest to his dearly departed wife, Sunanda.  A placed called Avani.  It is an organization that rescues children from the brick kiln and sugar cane industries and where she is the patron saint. You could not have asked for a better ending.

Dr. Brian Polkinghorn
Bosserman Center Executive Director

By webmaster

Webmaster for the Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution.

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