Annual Tri-College Peace Week April 4 to April 11
Preventing Violence in Our Local and Global Community

by Anita Pace
04/02/2008

Tri-Co Peace Week, a project dedicated to promoting nonviolence in communities and schools, will be held at Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr Colleges from Friday April 4, through Friday, April 11. Free events that are open to the public include speakers, films, musical performances, and a tri-college dance and a capella jamboree. Special free shuttles will run among the schools.

Peace Week is a project of SAVE R US (Students Against Violence Everywhere Are Us), an international student-run anti-violence organization, which was founded in 2001 by Brandon Lee Wolff '08.

"Both on the college and high school campuses, the aim of Peace Week is to promote awareness about issues of bullying and violence," says Wolff. "Through the annual Peace Week and the hands-on Peacemakers program, we hope to educate the youth of today so that we will have a less violent society in the future."

Some of the week's highlights include:

• Friday, April 4, 1:00 p.m. Kick-Off Event: "Dr. King and His Message 40 Years Later"
  Reverend Ralph Roy '50, worked with Dr. King in the 1960s and was twice arrested and jailed for his civil rights activity. Forty years to the day of the Dr. King's assassination, Reverend Roy shares his experiences.
  Swarthmore College, Lang Performing Arts Center
• Friday, April 4, 2:00 p.m. Puppet Workshop
  Help make puppets which will be used as a tool for teach-ins and protests in Bryn Mawr's Sweat Free Campaign, a campaign to get Bryn Mawr College to sell sweatshop free apparel. No artistic experience is needed for this fun activity!
  Bryn Mawr College, Campus Center 330
  Sponsored by One World
• Friday, April 4, 5:00 p.m. Peace Pole Dedication
  Come dedicate the Tri-Co's very first peace pole and garden! We will have a short ceremony which will be followed by a peaceful music concert by artist Tom Mullian.
  Haverford College, The Peace Garden
• Friday, April 4, 8:00 p.m. Lecture: Senator Harris Wofford
  Brief lecture and discussion with Harris Wofford, a former Martin Luther King advisor, former President of Bryn Mawr College and former Pennsylvania Senator.
  Haverford College, Stokes Hall
• Saturday, April 5, 2:00 p.m. Music: Peace on the Beach
  Various musicians and speakers will perform on Parrish Beach for the enjoyment of the masses. The Peace Concert is an annual musical demonstration for peace.
  Swarthmore College, Parrish Beach
• Saturday, April 5, 7:00 p.m. Uniting for Peace: A Tri-Co Capella and Dance Jamboree! Come to a peaceful celebration through music and dance featuring your favorite a capella and dance groups from the Tri-Co, followed by a complete Rhythm N Motion performance!
  Swarthmore College, Lang Performing Arts Center
• Sunday, April 6, 3:00 p.m. Walk for Peace
  Join in a short walk stopping at "action stations" along the way. Each action station will have a unique action component sponsored by different organizations from the tri-co community.
  Bryn Mawr College, Merion Green. Rain Location: Thomas Great Hall
• Sunday, April 6, 5:00 p.m. Radio Journalism in Conflict Areas
  Learn about student radio journalism at Swarthmore College (What is radio journalism and how is it done?) featuring the Darfur Radio Project and War News Radio.
  Swarthmore College, Lodge 6
  Sponsored by Darfur Radio Project & War News Radio
• Monday, April 7 through Friday, April 11, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Peace Week Clothing Drive
  Building peace requires compassion and action. Make a difference by donating clothes to a church in Sierra Leone.
  Swarthmore College, Parrish Hall, Shane Lounge
  Sponsored by Rotaract
• Monday, April 7, 4:15 p.m. Panel Discussion: Policy, U.S. - Iran Relations
  Congressman Joe Sestak, Dr. Philip H. Gordon, and Dr. Ray Takeyh will discuss the future of U.S. -Iran relations, in light of the U.S. presidential elections, the National Intelligence Estimate, and recent events in the Middle East.
  Swarthmore College, Science Center 101
  Sponsored by the College Republicans and College Democrats
• Monday, April 7, 8:00 p.m. UNITY CAFE: The Philly & Chester Connection: Bullets and Bicycles: Challenges that youth face in high-risk urban communities
  Participate in an insightful discussion on the violence and risk surrounding youth in our neighboring communities of Chester and Philadelphia. Then learn how to get involved in programs in these communities.
  Swarthmore College, Kohlberg Hall, Scheuer Room
  Sponsored by SAVE R US with support from SASS and ENLACE
• Tuesday, April 8, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Exhibit: AFSC Eyes Wide Open Across Pennsylvania
  The exhibit is a multimedia journey through the words and images of the Iraq war. Move through a vivid memorial to Pennsylvanian troops and Iraqi civilians who have died in the Iraq war.
  Haverford College, Founder Green and Zubrow Commons
• Tuesday, April 8, 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. Interactive Workshop: "Empowering Our Selves for Peace"
  To maximize the difference each of us can make, we need to increase our personal power. Participate in this hands-on workshop led by veteran trainer George Lakey, Lang Visiting Professor for Issues in Social Change.
  Swarthmore College, Cornell 104
• Tuesday, April 8, 7:00 p.m. Healing Justice: Are Prisons Obsolete?
  Listen to the voices of the voiceless as Judith Trustone, director of Sagewriters, shares her experiences and the stories of the writers behind bars as we explore the reality of prisons, the Constitutionally-mandated continuation of slavery in prisons, and an exploration of the core issues of the prison industrial complex and its effects on all of our lives. Presentation to be followed by screening and discussion of the new documentary Prison Life Stories.
  Swarthmore College, Cornell 104
• Tuesday, April 8, 7:00 p.m.  Women in Black Documentary Screening and Discussion
  Ellie Bernstein, independent documentary filmmaker, will screen footage and give a talk on international peace movement Women in Black.
  Bryn Mawr College, Thomas 110
  Sponsored by SGA
• Wednesday, April 9, 7:00 p.m. Lecture: Nobel Peace Laureates for a Better World
  Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute, and Emily Higgs '08 will discuss their participation in the 8th World Nobel Peace Summit held in Rome, Italy in December 2007. The Charter for a Nonviolent World, released by representatives at the Summit, will be presented followed by a discussion.
  Haverford College, Center for Peach and Global Center Cafe
• Thursday, April 10, 4:30 p.m. Lecture: Psychological Barriers to Conflict Resolution
  Lee Ross, co-founder of the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation, will discuss a very basic process that leads people who disagree to make negative inferences and attributions about each other, and to see hostile bias in the media. He will draw both upon empirical research and real world experiences at second track diplomacy and intergroup dialogue in Northern Ireland and the Middle East in a discussion of psychological barriers to conflict resolution and strategies for overcoming such barriers.
  Swarthmore College, Lang Performing Arts Center
  Sponsored by Peace & Conflict Studies
• Thursday, April 10, 8:30 p.m. Benefit Concert for Peace: State Radio, Featuring Chetro of Dispatch
  Few bands are as outspoken and thought-provoking as State Radio, the musically inventive, socially and politically charged trio fronted by Chad Stokes (known as the voice behind the hugely successful independent band Dispatch). With its sophomore album, Year Of The Crow, the group, rounded out by bassist Chuck Fay and drummer Mad Dog, matches its conscience-raising messages with an inspiring amalgam of rock, punk and reggae that is as distinctive as it is sublime. Come listen and rock out to State Radio and a local Tri-College band! Suggested donation of $5 dollars-all profits go to the Peace Week charity Mothers in Charge.
  Swarthmore College, Clothier, Upper Tarble
  Sponsored by the FunFUND
• Friday, April 11, 4:00 p.m. Peace Week Finale! Peace Practice
  Robert Chender-- War and peace start in the hearts and minds of individuals. True peace is unconditional, and does not depend on external circumstances; to begin to experience that true peace, we can train our minds through meditation and contemplation practices. These practices allow us to soften and open what is hard and closed in our hearts. True peace starts when we have the courage to have a change of heart. Please register, email jchende1@swarthmore.edu
  Swarthmore College, Bond Hall

In addition to the annual Peace Week and the organization's signature "Unity Cafe," SAVE R US runs a "Peacemakers" program that sends trained college and high school students into elementary schools to conduct programs aimed at fostering diversity and working against bullying and violence especially among youth. SAVE R US has established programs in high schools across Bucks County, Philadelphia, and Chester, Pennsylvania and now in Toronto, Canada, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

For a detailed schedule of events, please visit http://www.peaceweek.org/tri-co/index.php .