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By Vicki Brown*

1:00 P.M. EST Sept. 14, 2010 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

Naomi Tutu addresses supporters of Africa University during the Richard E. “Dick” Reeves Legacy Society dinner in Nashville, Tenn. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. View in Photo Gallery

When Zimbabwe was chosen as the site for Africa University, the country was viewed as the future of Africa, Nontombi Naomi Tutu told supporters of the United Methodist university attending the Richard E. “Dick” Reeves Legacy Society Recognition Dinner.

“That was why Africa University was located there. The university was going to be an investment in the new Africa,” said Tutu, a human rights activist and the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa.

Today, with the economic and political challenges of living in Zimbabwe, the university says something about God, she said.

“When people are raising their hands and asking, ‘Where is our dream?’ Africa University says to the people of Zimbabwe and Africa that a functioning institution is not simply a possibility here; it is a reality,” Tutu said.

“It is a reality that stands there saying, ‘This is Africa. This is what we are supposed to be. This is who we are going to be. This is who we must be.’”

Tutu related an African proverb in Xhosa: “Umuntu Nagumuntu Ngabantu,” which means, “a person is a person through other people.” Those who support Africa University are living out that proverb, she said.

“That Africa University is functioning today speaks to your belief and faith – coupled with action and financial support – faith in all of our humanity. Faith that the young people of Africa deserve not only to be able to dream a better world, but (also) to be given the tools to create a better world,” Tutu said.

She said the next generation of leaders is being prepared today at Africa University—a generation she believes will look at the failures of the past and learn. And the students are not only graduating with degrees and skills, they also are leaving with relationships with students from other countries.

“You are educating a generation of young people who know that they are Africa, not just Nigeria, Zimbabwe or Congo,” she said. “If any part of the continent of Africa is going to make it, every part has to make it.”

The young people who graduate from Africa University will take the African union to the next level, she said. “They will not allow leaders in the neighboring countries to get away with genocide and theft because they will have a connection to each other. And this will happen because you recognized our connection to one another,” Tutu said.

The annual dinner is held in memory of Richard E. “Dick” Reeves, a key supporter of the school who died in 1999. The legacy society was created in 2001 to recognize, honor and thank those who have included Africa University in their estate plans or have donated $10,000 or more to the Africa University endowment fund.

Those recognized at the Sept. 10 dinner were:

• Glenn M. Brown and Mrs. Gwenn Puetz-Brown are active members of Leawood United Methodist Church in Kansas. Mr. Brown, who worked for 40 years in the trucking industry, was active in People to People International and served as president of United Methodist Men at his church. Mrs. Puetz-Brown, who also worked for 17 years in the trucking industry, was president of the Heart of America Pilot Club.
• The Rev. Mary Beth Byrne, a retired United Methodist deacon, has been employed in both church-related and secular positions, including as personnel director for Goodwill Industries. She is committed to continuing the efforts of her late husband, the Rev. Allan D. Byrne, to raise scholarship funds for AU students by educating congregations about the great work occurring at the university.
• Connie E. Disney, along with her husband Bill, was an early supporter of the fund to build and support Africa University. Since her husband’s death, Mrs. Disney has been led to fund an endowed scholarship to help students studying in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
• Orpha M. Laurie grew up in a family and community that were church-oriented. Both she and her late husband have been active members of The United Methodist Church, and she sings in the church choir.
• Thomas and Charlotte McAnally have funded an endowed scholarship. Mr. McAnally retired as director of United Methodist News Service in 2001, and Mrs. McAnally, coordinator of Learning Resources for the Metro Nashville Public School system, retired in 2003.
• The Rev. Ralph B. and Pearl P. Shoemaker. The Rev. Shoemaker, an ordained elder, served churches in Clifton, N.J., and several cities in Minnesota. Mrs. Shoemaker, a nurse, worked at hospitals in Cleveland and in several Minnesota cities.
• The Rev. George William Watson Sr. has served in many capacities in the South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference. He was chaplain at South Carolina State College, pastor of many local congregations in South Carolina, and twice served as district superintendent.
• Mary White is executive director of United Methodist Neighborhood Services in Philadelphia. She is active in the denomination at all levels, serving as conference lay leader of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and vice chair of the Black Methodists for Church Renewal, and has been a delegate to jurisdictional, General and World Methodist conferences.
• The Rev. Rick Plain is the former Minister of Congregational Care at Los Altos (Calif.) United Methodist Church. He retired June 30, 2010.
• The late Olive Louise Finkbeiner, who died June 15 at age 79, was a choir member for nearly 20 years and an active member of the United Methodist Women.
• Mary “Presh” Whitlock Minnick was also honored posthumously. She served as a deaconess, a diaconal minister and a Christian educator. She is remembered for her work with inner-city children.
• Nine donors preferred to remain anonymous.

*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

News media contact: Joey Butler, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.