UMass alumnus Richard Gere returned to campus on Sept. 9, bringing a sold-out audience together around a message of compassion and shared humanity during a free screening of his 2024 documentary, “Wisdom of Happiness.”

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Co-presented by the UMass Fine Arts Center, UMass Student Affairs and Campus Life, and the International Campaign for Tibet, the screening was followed by a conversation about compassion, human connection, social division and the role that individuals can play in creating a more caring world.

“Wisdom of Happiness” offers an intimate and inspiring portrait of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, one of the world’s most influential spiritual leaders and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Through personal reflections and conversations, the film considers compassion as a practical response to today’s greatest challenges, from conflict and loneliness to climate change and social division—a message that aligns closely with the university’s emphasis on wellbeing as part of its strategic plan, and the Fine Arts Center’s ongoing work at the intersection of arts and wellbeing.

For Gere, the evening marked a return to UMass, where he studied philosophy for two years on a gymnastics scholarship before leaving to pursue an acting career. He went on to become a renowned actor, starring in films including “Pretty Woman,” “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Chicago.” He has also devoted decades to humanitarian work and has served as chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet since 1995.

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Gere said the UMass screening was the largest audience with which he had seen the documentary.

“A room full of 2,000 strangers. Do you feel like strangers now?” he asked. “No, I don’t either. I feel like we’re brothers and sisters.”

“Not only are the arts shown, through research, to be a healing force for people, but the Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts is a place where our community also comes together and witnesses expression, performance and thought-provoking ideas,” said Betsy Cracco, assistant vice chancellor of Campus Life and Wellbeing. “That physical act of coming together in itself is something that a lot of the literature says we are losing and sorely need. It is significant that we are hosting a film screening and watching it collectively in person with the executive producer and alumnus Richard Gere.”

The post-screening panel discussion, moderated by Monte Belmonte of New England Public Media’s “The Fabulous 413,” featured Gere, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and Tencho Gyatso, president of the International Campaign for Tibet. Dhardon Sharling, UMass lecturer of communication, served as emcee.

“At the University of Massachusetts Amherst that encourages us to be bold, to be true, to be revolutionary, perhaps in an increasingly divided world like today, compassion in itself is a revolutionary act,” Sharling said.