Loras College Wraps Up “Peace and Justice Week”

Continuing a 15 year tradition, Loras College hosted it’s annual “Peace and Justice Week” from September 21-28. This week long event offered a variety of programs aimed at helping faculty, staff, students, and visitors start to think of peacemaking in a comprehensive way and recognize that everyone can play a role in creating peace and justice on individual and communal levels. The week kicked-off with a keynote address from Paul Engler, author of “Non-Violent Alternatives to War.” From Iowa himself, Paul inspired the Loras College and Dubuque communities and helped participants envision a world free from violence. Throughout the week a historic poster exhibit was displayed, commemorating the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Other events included a group hike that aimed to raise money for refugees, and a workshop set on instructing how to communicate nonviolently based on Dr. Martin Luther King’s six principles of nonviolence.

One session of “Peace and Justice Week” was concentrated on the man who inspired the creation of the Father Ray Peace and Justice Center at Loras. The center hosts weekly meetings to discuss and raise awareness about local and global social justice issues. Fr. Ray Herman, was a priest in the Archdiocese of Dubuque who engaged in missionary work in Bolivia for thirteen years before being murdered in 1975. Students gathered to watch a short documentary of his life followed by the first person narrative of Fr. William Joensen, Dean of Spiritual Life, in which he recounted his own recent mission to Bolivia.

One Loras College student, Jenna Roskoph, said of the program- “The entire week helped me grow in my understanding of what it means to be an active peacemaker. I especially loved learning more about Fr. Ray Herman and his life of radical simplicity and dedication to the poor and vulnerable.”

To learn more about more about Peace and Justice at Loras click here.

Loras College Hosts Panel aimed at Reducing Waste

Loras College recently hosted a panel discussion on reducing food waste in an effort to become a more sustainable campus. The event was sponsored by the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency (DMASWA) and Green Iowa AmeriCorps and is open to the public. The panel was prompted by the statistic reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that approximately “one third of all food produced for human consumption worldwide is lost or wasted.”

The panel conversation focused on ways to “limit the amount of food put in landfills by reducing waste, feeding people in need, providing food for livestock, and compost and renewable energy.”

To read more about this panel hosted by Loras College, visit Loras news.

Loras College Peace and Justice Week Utilizes the Power of Art

Loras College’s annual Peace and Justice Week, which was from September 17^th – 25^th, hosted a series of free events centered on the theme “Who is an American?” The week was meant to “highlight the importance of dialogue and learning other people’s stories, then leading to greater compassion and understanding.” One of the vocal points of the week-long celebration includes “A Peace of My Mind: American Stories,” an exhibit by renowned artist John Noltner and International Day of Peace speaker Jim Bear Jacobs, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation and the associate pastor of the Church of All Nations.

“A Peace of My Mind: American Stories” developed from Noltner’s 40,000-mile journey across the United States simply asking people, “What does peace mean to you?” The collection, which is comprised of fifty-eight people, is meant to encourage thoughtful dialogue and connects viewers to online content for additional videos, articles and discussion questions. A book that was based on Noltner’s display “has been awarded first place in the Beverly Hills Book Awards for Multicultural Nonfiction and runner-up for Photography/Art for the New England Book Festival.”

Click here to learn more about Noltner’s work displayed at Loras College’s Peace and Justice Week.

Loras College to Start Peace Institute for High Schoolers

In response to the growing conflict in our nation and world, Loras College will launch a Peace Institute that will provide emerging area leaders with the opportunity to gain unique skills they can use to promote peace in their personal and professional lives. To respond to the global reality of difference and division, Loras College is establishing the Peace Institute to create a new approach to forming future leaders in the way of peace. For three days, high-school aged youth from a variety of faith backgrounds will participate in an overnight camp and will engage in programming on peace with self, others and the world. They will be taught skills like non-violent communication, inter-religious literacy, and relationship building by professors and area practitioners.

The Loras College Peace Institute will take place August 4-6, 2017.  Applications will be accepted through May 15.  To learn more, visit the Peace Institute’s website.

 

Peace and Justice in ACCU’s Fall Newsletter

ACCU recently released the fall edition of Update, our quarterly newsletter. Read Update in full here. Peace and Justice highlights include:

Global Solidarity Grants Increase Awareness of Catholic Social Teaching at Benedictine University, Cabrini College, Dominican University, St. Norbert’s College, and the University of St. Thomas (TX).

Catholic Colleges Bring Higher Education to the Incarcerated: Saint Francis College, Donnelly College, Holy Cross College, University of Notre Dame, and La Salle University implement programs to bring higher education to those incarcerated.

Spring Hill Alumni Participate in Inaugural Service Trip to Belize where they worked building homes.

Loyola Chicago Students Donate Care Packages to Soldiers serving in Iraq through a partnership with Aramark by using the remaining balance on meal plan to purchase care package materials

Loras Student Wins Interfaith Leadership Award- Recent graduate Samantha Eckrich was awarded the Mike Hammer Interfaith Leadership Award, which recognized her effort in promoting interfaith cooperation on campus.

To subscribe to Update, please email Paula Moore.

Peace and Justice in ACCU’s Winter Newsletter

Earlier this week, ACCU released the Winter 2015 issue of its quarterly newsletter, Update. Read it in its entirety here, but be sure to take note of the peace and justice related sections. The highlighted sections include:

Marymount University Students Help Create Urban Farm by transforming an inner Washington, DC land plot into a venue for a “farmers market, public art, a community garden, and more.”

St. Thomas Aquinas Event Focuses on Water, in an effort to raise awareness about water conservation, sustainability, and more.

Mount Saint Vincent Releases Findings on Human Trafficking that show widespread lack of awareness about the issue.

Loras Professor Works to Start Interfaith Dialogue through the recently established interfaith movement called Children of Abraham, which seeks to foster dialogue among the Abrahamic faiths.

Carlow Dedicates LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-Certified Building, which features advanced technology throughout the building that will save energy and water and reduce waste.

Christian Brothers University, Felician University, Georgetown University, and The University of the Incarnate Word Answer the Call to Action with expansive initiatives to reach out to Hispanic and Latino students pursuing higher education.

 To subscribe to Update, please email Paula Moore.

ACCU members recognized for interfaith, economic opportunity, and education

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll was released in December, and again ACCU members made a very strong showing. This year, in addition to being listed on the general honor roll, ACCU members were recognized in three specialized categories: interfaith, economic opportunity, and education.

A total of 93 ACCU members were recognized this year on the General Community Service Honor Roll, including 14 on the honor roll “with Distinction.” This is 47.2 % of all ACCU members and 14% of all the U.S. colleges and universities on the honor roll. Catholic colleges and universities make up just 5% of degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States.

Four additional ACCU members were recognized in three specialized categories, bringing the total number of ACCU members recognized to 97 – or 49.2% of all ACCU members. Achievement in these three specialized community service recognition categories demonstrate impressive results:

– In the Interfaith category, 21 of 93  (22.6%) of the schools recognized were ACCU members (Seattle University was classified as a finalist; Loras College was earlier recognized as outstanding in the category).

– In the Economic Opportunity category, 12 of 83 (14.5%) were ACCU members.

– In the Education category, 35 of 194 (18.0%) were ACCU members (Loyola University of Chicago was recognized as a finalist).

Find details at:

http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs-focus-areas-special-initiatives-tags/presidents-higher-education-community-service-honor