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‘Devoted to the Instruction of Youth’

May 30, 2022

SGI Vice President Yoshiki Tanigawa accepts the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters on behalf of Sensei.

A look at the 171-year-old University of Minnesota campus, where Ikeda Sensei was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters on May 14 during the 2022 commencement ceremony for the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Ikeda Sensei receives an honorary doctorate—his first from a U.S. institution of higher learning—at the University of Denver, June 8, 1996. Although he has received honorary doctorates from other U.S. universities, the one bestowed by the University of Minnesota on May 14, 2022, was his second to be conferred on U.S. soil.
(Left) Plaques displaying the names of University of Minnesota honorary degree recipients line a section of the institution’s Scholars Walk. (Middle) The world-class Ted Mann Concert Hall, where Sensei was conferred an honorary doctorate during the 2022 commencement ceremony for the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, May 14. (Right) Sensei’s name etched into the Scholars Walk plaque.
Scholars Walk is a four-block tribute to national and international award recipients located on the University of Minnesota campus’ East Bank.
The university’s Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium bears the inscription “The University of Minnesota: founded in the faith that men are ennobled by understanding; dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; devoted to the instruction of youth and the welfare of the state.” In November 1955, the British historian Arnold J. Toynbee spoke here to an overflow crowd of 10,000.
(Left) Mr. Tanigawa joins the Humphrey School faculty for a commemorative photo before the commencement ceremony. (Middle) The University of Minnesota is a leading research institution with a student body surpassing 52,000. (Right) The Mississippi River, the third largest river basin in the world, has its headwaters in Minnesota.

All photos by Seikyo Press and Yvonne Ng.

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