Naomi Tutu, an international human relations scholar, spoke at the Nott Memorial Thursday and met with students and staff.
Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, discussed the Diana Legacy Fund, an international campaign to bring hospice care and other services to people dying of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The talk, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the President’s Office, UNITAS and Blue House.
The Legacy Fund is named after Diana, Princess of Wales, who supported AIDS causes before her death 10 years ago. Organizers hope to raise $10 million in the next five years to benefit AIDS patients in the region, which contains nearly 50 countries south of the Sahara. The money will be used to train personnel and provide drugs, housing and transportation services.
One of the people who helped launch the Legacy Fund was Phil Di Sorbo ’71. As the co-founder and executive director of the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Di Sorbo regularly visits AIDS-ravaged Africa to offer assistance.
Prior to her public lecture, Tutu spoke with students about dealing with death and dying in sub-Saharan Africa in Professor Deidre Hill-Butler’s class, Sociology of the Family. Tutu also met with student leaders who will be working on the Diana Legacy Fund, and attended a dinner at 5 p.m. in Blue House.
"Even now, with the AIDS pandemic, when people are burying somebody in their family almost weekly in many places, I don’t think anybody can become numb to the feelings of loss and hurt and mourning," Tutu told the class.
Born in South Africa during apartheid, Tutu is an internationally recognized speaker and consultant on gender, race and international relations. She founded and chaired the Tutu Foundation, which provides scholarships and support to South African refugees in African countries.
Tutu holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and French from Berea College in Kentucky and a master’s degree in international economic development from the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky.
She has taught courses on development, gender, and education in Africa at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina. Tutu is currently the associate director of the Office of International Programs at Tennessee State University.