David Lynch to give $1M to fund scholarships
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - March 14, 2008 Lynch, who directed "The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet" and
"Mulholland Dr." movies and the "Twin Peaks" TV series, is a
longtime practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
Students practice TM as part of their course of study at
Maharishi University, which was founded in Fairfield in 1971. The
school offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in
computer science, art, design, business and sustainable living.
Lynch, 62, plans to give $1 million in scholarships for students
to attend the university and learn TM. The goal is to increase the
number of students who meditate on the Fairfield campus to 2,000.
He started the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based
Education and World Peace in 2005.
"America urgently needs at least one university to teach the
science of peace - and to actually promote peace in the world,"
the filmmaker said in a statement Thursday.
The university will host "David Lynch Weekend" on April 25-28.
It will feature performances by Donovan, Moby and Chrysta Bell.
