After the Olympic torch left San Francisco on Wednesday, Stanford became a stop on a different kind of torch relay designed to advocate for Tibet.

The Stanford Friends of Tibet hosted a rally yesterday in White Plaza in support of the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay, which will travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles to encourage China to change its policies toward the province.

The relay, which is in part led by Jigme Norbu, the nephew of the Dalai Lama, made its first college stop at Stanford.

“This is a very special moment for Tibet,” said History Prof. Clayborne Carson, who spoke at the rally. “The world has unprecedented leverage over China because of the coming Olympics.”

“The Dalai Lama is the person that best represents the nonviolent values of Martin Luther King and Gandhi,” added Carson, who is director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. “If we do not pay attention to Tibet, then we are saying that nonviolent resistance doesn’t work.”

Dean of Religious Life Scotty McLennan, who also spoke at the event, encouraged the audience to “stand with the 6 million Tibetans in their search for basic human rights, freedom and justice.”

While the speakers argued for Tibetan freedom, they emphasized the distinction between the Chinese people and the government’s stance on the issue.

“We are not against Chinese people,” Norbu emphasized while representing the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay at Stanford. “We are against the Chinese Communist Party’s policies.”

Many in the audience were receptive to the messages of the speakers and the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay organizers.

“This is great because we got to hear from multiple perspectives of the Tibetan issue,” said Joshua Fouse ‘10, president of Stanford Friends of Tibet.

Other students, however, did not think that the speakers presented a fair perspective of the issue of Tibetan independence. Because of the controversial nature of the topic, some audience members vocally disagreed with the viewpoint of the speakers.

One member in the audience ventured so far as to yell “Liar!” repeatedly throughout the course of Norbu’s speech.

After the event, however, Norbu appeared unfazed.

“When you’re an activist, there will be obstacles,” Norbu said to The Daily.

“It’s my responsibility, and the responsibility of every Tibetan, to raise awareness and educate the audience about Tibet,” Norbu added. “Most of the leaders of the relay have put their jobs on hold for long periods of time for this project.”