Biehls' visit includes variety of events

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

Linda Biehl talks with associate professor of Management Mzamo Mangaliso, while her husband, Peter Biehl, chats with chaplain Christopher Carlisle at The Arc, the Episcopal Chaplaincy Building. The visit to The Arc was one of more than a dozen events the Biehls participated in during their stay at the University. (Stan Sherer photo)

eter and Linda Biehls' visit to campus Nov. 6-8 was marked by the variety of events which they participated in.

     In addition to making a presentation in the Fine Arts Center, they met with students in several venues, attended a number of campus community meals, met with the press, visited Amherst Regional High School, and received Chancellor's Medals.

     The breakfasts they attended on Nov. 7 and 8 both dealt with University connections to South Africa, the Biehl's adopted home, where their daughter Amy was murdered in 1993. The Nov. 7 breakfast was for faculty and staff who are currently engaged in South Africa and was an opportunity to network and exchange ideas and experiences in South Africa. The breakfast on Nov. 8 was to explore future connections between the University and South Africa, including opportunities for University students to study in South Africa.

     The highlight of the visit was a presentation at the Fine Arts Center, attended by more than 750 people, in which the Biehls showed a clip from the film, "Long Night's Journey into Day," about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its efforts to heal social wounds that resulted from Apartheid. The Biehls advocated for the release of the four young men who

Loaves of Amy's Bread waiting to be given to guests at the Nov. 7 luncheon for the Biehls. (Stan Sherer photo)

killed their daughter, befriending them and their families. They have continued the work of their daughter to promote justice and racial equality in South Africa, and it is because of their "living values" that interim Chancellor Marcellette G. Williams brought them to campus.

     At the Nov. 7 luncheon, where Williams presented the Biehls with Chancellor's Medals, the food was prepared and served by students in Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration.

     "You have taken the tragic death of your daughter and created a positive and transformative energy that gives larger meaning not only to Amy's life, but more importantly, to the values she lived by," Williams said. "You also remind us that in these troubled and uncertain times there are alternatives to fear and anger.

Interim Chancellor Marcellette G. Williams presents Linda and Peter Biehl with Chancellor's Medals at a luncheon in their honor. Williams invited the Biehls to visit campus after meeting them in South Africa last April. (Stan Sherer photo)

     "You provide inspiration to us all by living values of the sort we, as a university community, aspire to model for our students and for the world. By becoming members of our family, you enrich us in ways that we can never repay. For that we are deeply honored to present each of you with the Chancellor's medal."