Photo by HELEN COMER/The Jackson Sun
Mikhail Gorbachev, former secretary general of the former Soviet Union, talks to students during his visit to Union University in Jackson on Tuesday. Gorbachev was in Jackson to speak at the university's fourth annual Scholarship Banquet. At left is David Dockery, president of Union University

The Carl Perkins Civic Center was filled to the brim Tuesday with a total of 1,064 tickets sold. Sponsors were seated at tables on the floor, while Union students and members of the public filled balcony seats.

Gorbachev, one of the 20th century's most influential political leaders, was the keynote speaker at Union University's fourth annual Scholarship Banquet. The theme of his speech, "From Totalitarianism to Democracy," covered the history of the Soviet Union and its rise to freedom.

Gorbachev said his mission was to "have everyone think about the world around us. Defeating the other side is just avoiding the realities of the day."

"When I was preparing to speak with you, I reflected on the entire process of freedom," Gorbachev said with the aid of an interpreter. "I recalled a lecturer who came to speak about communism. He said Ôthe dawn of communism is on the horizon.' Only one man questioned this by saying Ôthe horizon is a line where the sky meets the earth. The closer you get to it, the farther away it gets.' "

The Soviet people had always understood that the communists were engaged in "wishful thinking," Gorbachev said. Similarly, "the burial of capitalism was something that was done regularly in the Soviet Union."

Gorbachev stressed the fact that nations must unite for the betterment of all people.

"We can no longer give simple answers," Gorbachev said. "I don't believe the future will be a choice between socialism and capitalism. I think we'll see a fusion of all our social experiments."

Together, the Scholarship Banquet and September's Germantown banquet featuring former Secretary of Education William Bennett are expected to raise $1.3 million to benefit the Germantown campus and student scholarships.

The former Soviet leader was a surprise guest at the Old Country Store in Casey Jones Village Tuesday. He and an entourage of seven interpreters and bodyguards showed up at around 3 p.m. looking for something to eat, said store manager Clark T. Shaw.

"From what I understand, he asked some people at the Garden Plaza (where Gorbachev was staying) where he could get some traditional, home-cooked food, and they recommended us," Shaw said. "He had Tennessee country ham and coffee. He was polite, saying hello and thanks to us."

"Gorbachev is one of the most significant figures in 20th century history," Union University President David Dockery said. "Though he was, perhaps at points, a reluctant participant, no one else can describe the fall of communism from the perspective that he can."

Ann Livingstone, an associate professor of political science at Union who specializes in international relations, said she was thrilled with Gorbachev's visit to Jackson.

"Gorbachev came into his leadership role during a time when the economic system of Russia and the Soviet Union was on the verge of major change," Livingstone said. "The economic system at the time was spending more than 24 percent on its military forces, but wars were becoming less frequent, and the illusion of remaining a huge world power was becoming more difficult to continue."

Dockery noted others who were also making a change in the former Soviet Union, such as "those who prayed day in and day out in Russia - the widows who gathered at the Central Church in Moscow to pray daily, the pastors who went to prison , and other faithful believers who continued to hope in God."

Before the end of the Soviet Union in 1989, there were no missionaries allowed. Since that time, there are now as many missionaries in Russia as any other country in the world, Dockery said.

Though Gorbachev does not profess to be a Christian, Dockery still believes that he was used by God in bringing an end to communism and the Soviet Union.

In 1982, Gorbachev climbed to the top of the communist hierarchy in an atmosphere of political intrigue and growing anxiety among the Soviet elite, who were concerned that the country's economic and other problems were becoming grave. Following the death of Konstantin Chernenko, Gorbachev won the endorsement of the Poliburo and was appointed as the new leader of the Soviet Union on March 11, 1985.

In 1986 Gorbachev recast his reform program as one of comprehensive perestroika (rebuilding) of society and economy and declared that glasnost' (candor or openness) had to be fostered. In 1987 he came out in favor of democratization of the Soviet regime and initiated a critical reevaluation of totalitarian rule. In the same year, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev signed a treaty that eliminated ground-launched, mid-range and short-range nuclear missiles.

Gorbachev left power in 1991 when the member state of the USSR voted to dismantle the federation. After leaving office, Gorbachev remained publicly active, focusing much of his energy on the Foundation for Social, Economic and Political Research in Moscow. He continues to speak in favor of democratic socialism, lecturing frequently outside of Russia. His memoirs, "Life and Reforms," were published in Russia in 1995 and in the United States in 1996.

Although many Russian people blamed him for the ills of the post-Soviet era, Gorbachev's political and foreign policies helped loosen the grip of the Soviet Communist dictatorship. And, as is evident today, leaders throughout the Communist Eastern bloc are searching for new ways to govern.