Desmond Tutu, a groundbreaking anti-apartheid and human rights activist who served as the first Black African Bishop of Johannesburg and then Archbishop of Cape Town, passed away on December 26, 2021. Archbishop Tutu held many prestigious positions in the religious and secular civic life of South Africa, and often endured house arrest and other punishment at the hands of South Africa’s racist regime. Archbishop Tutu was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

In May 2003, Rev. Tutu delivered Penn’s commencement address and received an honorary degree. In his address, “We All Are Family” (Almanac May 27, 2003), he described the struggle for freedom in South Africa and emphasized nonviolence and forgiveness: “We learned in South Africa that there is no way in which you are going to have true security that comes from the barrel of a gun.”