The Valley hosted an international figure who stands for human rights and world peace Friday night.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader in ending the apartheid in South Africa, spoke to a packed crowd at JMU's convocation center.

In his speech, called "Goodness is Powerful," he made the crowd laugh with his sense of humor and down to earth personality, but he also sent the message that there is no way that injustice can have the last word, and that goodness will ultimately prevail.

"When someone like Tutu comes within the confines of where you live, it would be a shame not to hear him. This is one of the iconic personalities of our time," says Burton Buller, who attended Tutu's speech.

"His devotion to to his country and the injustices that were there will make such a difference that historically he will go down as one of the movers and shakers of the eradication of apartheid," says Lynne Stover, another attendee.

While he made everyone laugh, he focused on the younger crowd: the people that Tutu said will continue to fight for peace.

"You young people, don't let us oldies with our cynicisms divert you and turn you away from the dreams that you dream, you dream that yes it is possible that there to be no war any longer," says Tutu.

The crowd cheered and was inspired by Tutu's words of wisdom.

"All of us, have been made for goodness. We have been made for laughter. We have been made for gentleness. We have been made for caring, for sharing, for compassion. For we do indeed inhabit a moral universe, and yes, goodness is powerful," says Tutu.

Tutu received the first award from JMU's Gandhi center: the Mahatma Gandhi Non-Violence Award. Tutu says the Gandhi Center is a sign of hope that people have not given up on everyone living peacefully together.