The Student Peace Initiative (SPI) organized and sponsored several events during the 2002-2003 school year, including forums for discussing the preparations for and the launching of the US-led war in Iraq. An interfaith Prayer Vigil for Peace in February drew participants from the campus as well as from neighboring communities. SPI members attended several off-campus events, including a weekend workshop on conflict and reconciliation.
The Peace and Conflict Transformation (PACT) Program sponsored two multiple-chapel sessions. The Fall session featured teams of students and faculty engaged in dialogue about the pending US invasion of Iraq. The Spring session featured John D. Roth from Goshen College whose topic was "Why Peace Is Good News."
I taught a course entitled, "War and Peace in the Biblical Tradition," and Sue Spaulding will teach "The Literature of Nonviolence" in the Spring of 2004.
The PACT Program Committee plans to offer a core of four courses over a two-year period, one course each semester.
We have received several donated books and have purchased several others to supplement the holdings of Nicholson Library, working to create a more valuable collection of peace literature and resources.