Practicing Peace

Many people are confused when they hear about the University for Peace.  They may wonder, "What happens up there?"  It sounds mystical and brings to mind images of hippies and tree huggers convening in some kind of utopia.  I can assure you, we are enrolled in graduate school and as you know from me, are kept quite busy with our studies.  That being said, some of the most important learning does not take place in a classroom.

We are 180 students from over 50 countries.  It sounds interesting, no?  A lot of fun, right?  Yes, it is but it is also a perfect place for misunderstandings and conflict.  We are essentially practicing peace in a microcosm of the world.  Globalization is as real as it's going to get.  Our economies are all tied together and so is how we manage our daily lives, not only because of our economic effect on others, but also our environmental impact on our global home.  In order to reduce some of the injustices of the world caused by globalization, we are going to have to work together.

So, it's exciting and sometimes very difficult, if not discouraging.  It's true.  We are supposed to be reenacting a peaceful global community and in reality, we fall short.  If we can't do it here, then where?  Why do I say we fall short?  It's little things that we may not understand or view as harmful.  You see, we have not been instructed specifically in how to create this peaceful community and there are students who come here that don't fully understand what building or being a peaceful community fully entails.  It's not something that you choose to do sometimes and not others.  Being a peace builder requires that you live each day and each moment how you would like the world to be.  It's not easy and it's not perfect but the intention is important.  We are all responsible collectively for this community and what happens inside of it, just like citizens of the world are responsible for the global community and our one home, earth.  Sometimes we all need a little help or a reminder of our purpose and our responsibility.  What happened recently was a reminder for all.

There was a breach in peace on campus.  Some had commented on how our peaceful community seemed fractured and not very peaceful of late.  The culprits were typical: gossip, envy, and clicks.  What resulted was a big wake up call.  A student created what they thought would be a 'funny' blog to vent their negative feelings.  They encouraged other students to write for the blog, or as they termed it, a student online newspaper and creative outlet for conflicts.  Actually, it was one person's, or a group of people's, mean and targeted comments that bordered on slander.  It targeted one student very specifically and said many things that the student thought was private information.  It also targeted other students, the dog policy on campus, the Vagina Monologues, and was explicit about their dissatisfaction with the dating scene on campus.  Most of it was completely inappropriate.

The student community, for the most part, was shocked and dismayed.  Action was immediate.  E-mails were sent out renouncing the blog but not in an accusatory fashion.  It was constructive criticism.  The next day a meeting was held for those who wanted to discuss the incident.  Half of the student population showed up to show their support for the targeted students and outrage at what had happened.  It was a fine show of solidarity and community, but maybe it came too late?  A result was acknowledging that the volcano had erupted and we were all responsible for the shifting ground that brought it to this point.  Idly listening to gossip or mean spirited words is culpable.  Positivity came from the negative situation and it was even pointed out that whoever wrote the blog may learn from this response.

It is ok to disagree or have disagreements.  Conflict is a natural part of working towards understanding and instigating change. It is how we act when confronted with negative feelings or situations that matters.  Everyone is creating our world, both present and future, with his or her words and actions.  We must choose to create it with justice and fairness or with hate and spite.  Individual actions create communal movement for good or for bad.   What ingredients do you choose to add to the mix?

Inner peace is necessary for outer peace.  We are all on our own journey.  Inner peace is a lifelong process and it cannot be judged.  Everyone's process is unique.  In a chaotic world we should all take a moment for introspection and reflection.  It may be easier to judge others but we must look into ourselves for the deficiency we attribute to others first and foremost.  We have far more control over our own actions than we do others.

What is hopeful is that this group of students did not meet anger with anger.  Instead we chose constructivism.  Anger destroys.  We chose to rebuild our community instead of find and destroy the perpetrator(s).  When I read the blog, I felt very sad but our collective reaction quickly restored my faith in how we will act to be positive change agents in the world.