Central Oregon Community College’s (COCC) 17th annual Season of Nonviolence — held mid-January through early April — kicks off with a free keynote event by Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu, titled “Belonging, Justice, and Our Shared Humanity,” at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 27, at the Tower Theatre. Visit cocc.edu/snv to register for this and other free 2025 Season of Nonviolence events, to be announced in January, presented by COCC’s office of diversity and inclusion and the COCC Foundation’s Nancy R. Chandler Lecture Series.
A human rights activist and daughter of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Tutu will speak to how the foundation for a just society lies in accepting others and recognizing the potential for greatness in all. The challenges of growing up Black and female under apartheid in South Africa have been the underpinning of her activism.
Prior to becoming an Episcopal priest, Tutu’s professional life included being a development consultant, a program coordinator at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town, and an instructor at the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina.
COCC’s Season of Nonviolence is inspired by the work of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others, honoring their vision for an empowered, nonviolent world. For more information, contact Charlotte Gilbride, coordinator of the Nancy R. Chandler Lecture Series, at 541-383-7257 or cgilbride@cocc.edu, or Christy Walker, director of diversity and inclusion, at 541-383-7412 or cwalker2@cocc.edu.
Sponsors for COCC’s Season of Nonviolence include First Story, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Associated Students of COCC, Brooks Resources Corporation, Cascades Academy and the Oregon Community Foundation’s Casey Family Fund.
In advance of college events, persons needing accommodation or transportation because of a physical or mobility disability should contact Caitlyn Gardner at 541-383-7237. For accommodation because of other disability, such as hearing impairment, contact disability services at 541-383-7583.