Tibetan activist receives praise for accomplishments

The Tibetan Cultural Center's International Mongolian Festival kicked off Friday with a ceremony in honor of the man who made it all possible. Professor Thubten Jigme Norbu, founder of the TCC, received an enconium, the highest award a Bloomington mayor can give, for his lifetime of service to the Bloomington community.\nAfter Elaine Mellencamp greeted the revelers with a brief introduction, Mayor Mark Kruzan took to the stage to present the enconium. Kruzan first read a letter from Gov. Joe Kernan, thanking Norbu for his service to Bloomington.\n"You are to be commended for your unwavering commitment, attitude of altruism and upstanding spiritual leadership," the letter read. "By improving our communities as you have in your lifetime, we all can improve our country and world."\nNorbu was unable to attend the ceremony because his health has suffered lately, said Lisa Morrison, volunteer media director for the TCC. His wife, Kunyang Norbu, accepted the honor on his behalf.\nThubten Norbu, the older brother of the Dalai Lama, received the award for his work to promote Tibetan culture in Bloomington and his efforts toward an independent Tibet. Norbu served as a professor of Tibetan Studies at IU-Bloomington from 1965 until the mid-1980s when he retired. In 1979 while teaching at IU, Norbu founded the Tibetan Cultural Center, according to Morrison. In 1987, the group completed construction of Bloomington's TCC, which serves as a global cultural support network for Tibetans. Last year, the TCC unveiled the Chamtse Ling, an interdenominational Buddhist temple.\nLarry Gerstein, president of the International Tibet Independence Movement, attended Friday's ceremony to honor his colleague.\n"Since he came to Bloomington, he has shared the Tibetan culture and religion with the people of Indiana," he said. "He's been a worldwide leader to return Tibet to the Tibetans and he has enriched the Bloomington community in many different ways."\nSophia Travis, who is running for county council at large, said she attended the event because she believes the center helps promote Bloomington's uniquely diverse culture.\n"I think it's a kind of a national syndrome in our country. There's this homogenization of small towns," she said. "Big cities, with multi-national corporations that place pressure on small towns. We don't have to bow to that pressure."\nThough he was unable to attend, Norbu was able to enjoy his special day anyway, Gerstein said.\n"I saw him after the event and he was smiling and laughing and joking with me," Gerstein said.\nMorrison said the TCC draws tourists and from all over the world, largely due to Thubten Norbu's influence.\n"Those who study the culture understand and know that Professor Norbu has been working very hard," she said. "People are generally very supportive of that. They want to be where he is."\nThe presentation of the enconium highlights the diversity of Bloomington relevant to Indiana, Gerstein said.\n"It's very important to reward individuals who have gone to such great lengths to share with us and help us grow and learn and expand our horizons."\n-- Contact city & state editor Mike McElroy at mmcelroy@indiana.edu.