Dalai Lama's Sister Visits NSU; NSU Scholarships Created for Tibetan Students

(L to R, Back Row) David Birju, Sachia Persaud, Tenzin Dhonden, Jetsun Pema, Barbara Brodman, professor, Division of Humanities; Robin Sherman, professor, Division of Math, Science, and Technology; Kimberly Nghiem, Rafia Chodhry. (L to R, Front Row) Taylor Liput, Janette Smith, assistant director of the Office of Information Services in Farquhar College, Careen Hutchinson, Omar Chodhry.

Jetsun Pema, the younger sister of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, visited NSU on January 19 to meet with NSU officials in a follow-up to the Dalai Lama’s fall visit to campus.

During her visit, Ms. Pema met with Don Rosenblum, dean of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, about scholarships the university has offered to two Tibetan students to study at NSU. The two students chosen to receive the scholarships currently live in the Tibetan Children's Village, a community for exiled Tibetans founded more than forty years ago in Dharamsala, India. They will begin studies--in biology and in business--in fall 2005. The scholarships will cover full tuition, fees, room and board. Farquhar College will manage the students’ transition to their lives in the United States.

At a lunch in the Presidential Dining Room with students and faculty from Farquhar College’s Undergraduate Honors Program, Ms. Pema talked about her life of service to the Tibetan people, especially her legacy of helping thousands of exiled Tibetan children through the Tibetan Children's Village. The village community oversees the lives of more than 15,000 young Tibetans who have left their native country either as orphans, or were sent by their families in order to receive a traditional Tibetan education.