Thoughts on Educating for Peace

The Peace Studies Concentration at Xavier has de-romanticized both war and peace for me and given me the opportunity to enter into the challenging, complex dialogue towards world peace.

-Mary Shriner '87, Dorothy Day Medal Recipient, 1987

Peace Studies courses challenged me to vigorously resolve problems in society as well as those in the classroom.

-Patrick Clifford '90, Recipient, Urmston Peace Studies Scholarship

As an Applied Biology major and future environmentalist, the Peace Studies Program has offered me the opportunity to explore the possibilities for creating justice in environmental issues.

-Susan Menkhaus '93, Recipient, Urmston Peace Studies Scholarship,1991

There is a myth that college students are sheltered from the 'Real World'. Through my Peace Studies Minor I have been connected to a world that expands beyond the realm of the 'Real World' - into a world not only of theory, but of action.

-Martin Eisen '94, Recipient, Urmston Peace Studies Scholarship,1993

Becoming a Peace Studies Minor changed my perspective on just about everything. Now everything seems to fit together so well. I would recommend the Peace Studies Program to anyone and everyone entering Xavier.

-Tanzie Freedman '95

Being a Peace Studies Minor allows me to see the possibilities of nonviolence and inspires me to believe that a positive peace is possible. I am committed to pursue a life path dedicated to creating a culture of peace.

-Kristen Barker '00, Dorothy Day Medal Recipient, 2000

I am not crazy, but I am happy. I say this because many people, especially those in the U.S., especially those who have lived years in the status quo way of life in our country, believe that the life I lead in El Salvador is only one a crazy person would lead!

It is true, I am a college grad who only earns $6,000 a year. I have less money in my bank account than I did when I was 18 and a senior in High School. It is true that my current residency resembles a college dormitory... only now it differs because the most recent earthquakes here have damaged it severely.

I have lived in El Salvador since Jan. of 1997, less than two years after graduating from XU I moved here. I am a social worker, counselor, community organizer and fund raiser for an amazing Salvadoran youth movement called Nueva Generacion XXI.

Basically, we provide friendships to youth in need. We have programs and activities to keep youth active, youth who are shut out of high school and employment opportunities. My job has its frustrations, but everyday I wake up in the morning well rested and excited about the day ahead, the challenges to be faced, the joy to be shared.

Many would say I am crazy for leading such a life. I understand this thought, but disagree. What appears to be crazy in such an insane world is really just someone being truly happy. I applaud any XU student for at least following their heart and making it to this point, to question one's happiness over one's projected income and status.

-Matthew T. Eisen

The Peace Studies Minor I received from Xavier University was an instrumental part for me to find my calling. Through the minor I was able to process and focus not only the education I was recieving from my major (International Relations) and other classes, but as well as the events taking place around campus, around town, and around the world.

I strongly urge strengthening the scholarship fund. The Xavier University Community has shown past commitment in fulfulling our responsibitly in producing leaders with vision, and we need to continue in this tradition. The Peace Studies Scholarship fund puts Xavier out in front of other academic institutions, expressing our collective vision as a community that is not only academic, but participatory in offering how to better the world.

Matthew Thomas Eisen
Cincinnati Archdiocese Catholic Missionary in EL SALVADOR
Matthew "Mateo" Eisen
Nueva Generación XXI
Centro de Gobierno
Apdo. Postal 1353
San Salvador, El Salvador
011-503-282-0786 (work)
mateo129@hotmail.com (personal)
nueva_gen21@hotmail.com (work)

After completing my undergraduate degree at Xavier with a focus in the Peace Studies minor, I moved to Sitka, Alaska as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps: Northwest. My placement transported me to an isolated island community of 8,500 people. I worked in the school district as an outdoor educator for at risk youth, grades two through 12, teaching outdoor safety and survival and alternative recreational activities. My term of service concluded in August.

Currently I am the Adult Community Coordinator for the Seven Circles Coalition at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. SEARHC is an organization dedicated to providing free healthcare and wellness to the Native peoples of Southeast Alaska. I work specifically to help communities prevent substance abuse using a youth/adult partnership model.

Peace and justice programming at Xavier shaped my life. Before I began attending activities at the Dorothy Day House, my existence didn't have much focus or meaning. My worldview budded within the Xavier peace and justice community, and continues to blossom though I'm thousands of miles from where that seed was planted.

-Bri Crowley '01
B.A. Communication Arts
Peace Studies Minor
Environmental Studies Minor
Dorothy Day House Alumna

This note is in support of the Peace Studies Minor at Xavier. When I was at Xavier (graduated in 1998), I combined the minor with a degree in Theology and have been very pleased at how this combination has prepared me to engage issues and concerns that I have encountered. Specifically, the class on conflict mediation and capstone seminar for the minor have been resources that I have reflected back on in my life after college. I have since graduated from Princeton Seminary with a Masters of Divinity last year and will graduate this year from an MSW program at Rutgers University. In my work in ministry, social work, and justice movements I have often thought about how thankful I am to have pursued a liberal arts education, and further to have been able to focus that study on theology and peace. These two issues have remained for me a constant companion and have allowed me to see their essential relation to one another. In our diverse world of different religious perspectives, which has become ever more interconnected, people who understand religion and who value peace are a needed resource. I hope that Xavier continues to value the Peace Studies minor...and maybe even seeks to develop an interdisciplinary Peace Studies Major some day.

Peace,
Michael Neuroth, '98

I graduated from Xavier University in December of 1992 with a degree in Theology and minor in Peace Studies. As a college student making peace studies part of my program was very easy, since the classes were incorporated into what I was already taking. These peace studies classes were some of my favorites. They gave a deeper dimension and the social justice/peace perspective that probably wouldn’t have discussed ordinarily. I wish that the peace studies program had been more in depth and that I had had more opportunities for further study. It would also be great in the future of Xavier to offer a major in Peace Studies.

Today I am the Coordinator of Youth Ministry in Alameda, California. I work with 4 parishes in a collaborative model of shared ministry. The values of peace and justice that I learned at Xavier University from Fr. Ben Urmston SJ, my classes, especially those classes that were part of the peace studies minor and my involvement in the Dorothy Day house still impact me. These things I learned, such as non-violence, education on current events, history of peace movements,

and the centrality of peace and justice to Catholic faith are things I try to pass on to the teenagers with whom I work.

Whether it is part of the curriculum for confirmation preparation, or service learning work camp trips, I try to pass on and communicate a commitment to the work of justice and peace.. It is my hope that because of my educational background in this area, the way I live out peace and justice personally and in my ministry, that others I encounter may be challenged to look at current events and faith with an eye for the potential for peace that exists.

Sarelle McCoard '92
4635 Camden Street
Oakland, CA 94619
October 27, 2002

The Peace Studies Minor at Xavier University truly left a lasting impression on who I was and where I was going as I left college. The Peace Studies Minor challenged me to examine the injustices of our world around me in terms of human rights, economics, and ecology with an emphasis on working towards change and the ability I possessed to take part in that change. Academically, Peace Studies inspired me to connect the insights I gained from numerous fields of study into one worldview. After graduation, I have chosen to pursue work in campus ministry, first at the high school level leading retreats at the Milford Spiritual Center, and now at the college level as a campus minister at Xavier University. The Peace Studies Minor played an important part in my desire to be present with others as they explore issues of faith and justice in their own lives.

Gregory Carpinello, '01.

I hope the Peace Studies department gets the additional funding it deserves.

In 1990 I graduated from Xavier University with a minor in Peace Studies and a major in History. Currently I hold a Master's degree in US history, with an MA minor in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. I am in the final stages of my PhD dissertation in US Diplomatic History, again with a minor in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. In February 2003 will begin a lectureship at the Beijing Foreign Studies University in the field of US history.

As a historian of diplomacy, Peace Studies is an invaluable tool to understanding the nature of conflict and the possible solutions. This opens a new range of possibilities for diplomatic, rather than military, solutions to conflict. I have worked hard to introduce concepts of Peace Studies into the field of diplomatic history, hopefully reinvigorating the discipline with new research paradigms.

On a personal level, Peace Studies at XU opened me to a world outside of the US. It prompted me to travel and study internationally. Through this influence, I have begun to build the kind of bridges of international understanding that are increasingly important in our increasingly interdependent world. Perhaps no program at Xavier better prepares students for our new globally-structured society. Certainly no program at XU better infuses students with Jesuit ideals, and instills a more balanced and thoughtful respect for basic human rights and dignity.

"I'm thrilled and proud to see the strength and spirit of the Dorothy Day House community grow. My experiences at Dorothy Day House and in peace studies sent my life in a new direction. My very very best to you, Father Ben. I am so thrilled to know you remain a source of strength and inspiration for students and so many others."

Sincerely,

Mary Montgomery, '90
Dept. of History / University of Maryland
montgomeryme@yahoo.com

I'm currently in my second of two years in the masters program at American University. I'll have a masters in May (hopefully) in European Politics and U.S. National Security. The Peace Studies minor altered my lens of how I view the hard politics that I'm immersed in these days, and probably will be the rest of my life. It helped me understand the views of those on both sides of my own (either more dovish or hawkish). We get quite a lot of opinionated people in DC, especially in the current debate over war in Iraq. I would say Peace Studies gave me the other perspective that I may not have been taught by my hard-nosed National Security professors. There is a separate International Peace and Conflict Resolution program here that I have contact with, but I don't take any courses in the program.

I go to school with a few Muskies, but I don't know if any of them were Peace Studies or if you have their addresses: Emily Gish and Meghan Clarke. Jay Gutzwiller is here too, but I know you have his address and I haven't seen him much this semester.

Tell Fr. McCann I said hello...

Mark Zedella, '01
11/6/02