The Desmond Tutu Center—North America’s only academic center in a university and seminary context named for Archbishop Emeritus Tutu is a collaborative effort of Butler University and the Christian Theological Seminary. The center, launched on September 12, 2013, will focus on leadership development in social justice and reconciliation, international relationships, and interreligious bridge-building.
“Indianapolis provides a distinctive setting in which the richness of Tutu’s life and work—religious, inclusive, prophetic, and reconciling—may be carried forward into the 21st century, Butler President James M. Danko said. “The Desmond Tutu Center at Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary can distinctively honor the man and advance his legacy.”
Matt Boulton, President of Christian Theological Seminary believes, “the center will help raise the profile of Indianapolis as a truly international city that innovatively pursues ways in which our deepest commitments can help bring us together for the sake of the city, Central Indiana, and the wider world.”
South African cleric and anti-apartheid activist Allan Aubrey Boesak, a longtime friend of Archbishop Emeritus Tutu’s, and the Desmond Tutu Chair for Peace, Reconciliation and Global Justice Studies at Butler and CTS, will serve as the center’s first director. The Dungy Family Foundation is a founding partner of the center.
“In many ways this center is the culmination of our comradeship in the struggles in South Africa and our shared passion for justice and reconciliation in the world. It is also the crowning of decades of cherished friendship.” – Allan Boesak.
