Peace Week SWARTHMORE
Preventing Violence in Our Local & Global Community
April 22nd - 29th, 2005
Peace Week SWARTHMORE Committee:
SAVE R US (Students Against Violence Everywhere Are Us), DPI (Dialogues for Peace Initiatives), Swarthmore Sudan, Student Council, Ruach, Rhythm & Motion, Friends Meeting House, Peace & Conflict Studies Committee, Latin American Studies Committee, The Friends Historical Library, The Admissions Office, The Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility & The President’s Office
Special thanks to: Alumni Relations Office, Student Activities Office, Student Budget Committee, Forum For Free Speech, The Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility, & The President’s Office.
Friday, April 22nd
Opening Event sponsored by Student Council
1:00 PM Open Mic & Music on the Beach (Parrish Beach)
- Performances by student a capella groups (16 Feet & More!)
- “Open Mic” with integrated readings of poetry and writings by different social change activists
- Music, food and more!
6:30 Potluck Dinner @ The Friends Meeting House
7:30 “Peacemaking in the World” - discussion led by Nonviolence Peaceforce Co-founder David Hartsough and Erika Shatz (The Friends Meeting House)
Saturday, April 23rd
11:30 AM Peace Mural on Parrish Beach sponsored by SAVE R US
Sunday, April 24th
1:00 Walk for Peace sponsored by SAVE R US
- Walk departs from Parrish Beach.
- Short walk through the peace sites at Swarthmore College and in the community.
- The walk also includes several "action stations" where participants can take action by learning about how they can get involved with some of the peace oriented groups on campus and in the community
- Swarthmore Sudan "Put a Stop to Genocide" Handprint Action Mural (at the end of the walk on Parrish Beach)
5:00 Peace & Freedom Seder sponsored by Ruach (Bond Hall)
Monday, April 25th
Swarthmore Activism Then & Now – Science Center 199
7:00 "Nonviolence Resistance: Swarthmore's Founders and the Underground Railroad" - Lecture by Chris Densmore of the Friends Historical Library
8:00 Town Forum on Student Activism & the Greater Swarthmore Community
Panel Members:
Mark Hanis, Genocide Intervention Fund
Brandon Lee Wolff, SAVE R US
David Gibson, Coalition for Peace Action
Barbara Montgomery, Million Mom March
David Keller, Leap-Kids & Project Peace
Clark Palmer, Nonviolence Peaceforce
Tuesday, April 26th
4:30-5:30 Friends Historical Library Open House - "A Legacy of Peace for 350 Years: Quakers, Friends Historical Library and Swarthmore College"
7:30 "Surviving Columbine" featuring Columbine High School Survivor Richard Hoover and Peace Project founder Billy Hallowell (Scheuer Room)
Wednesday, April 27th
4:00 No Mans Land Film Screening sponsored by DPI (Scheuer Room)
7:00 “Suing for Peace” (Science Center 101)
Jim Kimmel - Founder of the Nonjustice Foundation, Local Author of
Suing for Peace: A Guide for Resolving Life’s Conflicts (without Lawyers, Guns, or Money
Thursday, April 28th
Visions of Peace – Upper Tarble
4:30 “Students Vision of Peace through Dance & Writing”
- Rhythm & Motion “peace dance performance”
- Peace & Conflict Studies student presentations:
"Nazi Family Policy and the Hitler Youth" - Erin Dwyer-Frazier
"Transnational Nonviolent Empowerment" - Ivan Boothe
"Youth, Peace, and Reconciliation in West Belfast." - Tim Chryssikos
7:00 “A Veterans Vision of Peace”
Mike Hoffman, Co-founder of “Iraq Veterans Against the War”
Friday, April 29th
12:00-2:00 "The Upside of War" featuring political cartoonist Signe Wilkinson (Friends Meeting House)
The History of SAVE R US & Peace Week
SAVE R US (Students Against Violence Everywhere Are Us) is an anti-violence organization that was started by Brandon Wolff in early 2001 in response to a string of school shootings across America. The club was first formed at Council Rock High School in Newtown, PA and has since expanded to several other high schools in Bucks County, PA. One of the first events that SAVE R US planned was a Peace Festival in October 2001, which was a two-day event to promote peace and nonviolence that involved all 3,000 students in Council Rock High School. This concept of a peace festival was recreated in an elementary school peace festival in 2002 and then was further expanded into Peace Week 2003, which encompassed the entire Council Rock School District. The following year, the peace week expanded even further to become Peace Week BUCKS COUNTY 2004, which involved 12 different school districts and 13 different community organizations in Bucks County, PA. The week consisted of events such as two opening "unity cafe" events at two different malls, A Walk for Peace, a nonviolence poetry presentation, nonviolence film screenings, a Surviving Columbine event featuring a Columbine High School survivor and a final closing event at the National Liberty Museum event in Philadelphia. The committee has since expanded and is now working on planning an even larger Peace Week BUCKS COUNTY 2005 set for May 13-20, 2005.
SAVE R US recently established a chapter at Swarthmore College and in addition to planning Peace Week SWARTHMORE, the club organizes “unity cafes” and the interactive Peacemakers program in Chester. For further information and the latest updates, please see www.SAVERUSInternational.org
