Students, faculty will participate in PeaceJam Conference in Denver
This weekend, 15 St. Thomas students and faculty will travel to Denver, to participate in a weekend conference celebrating the 10th anniversary of the PeaceJam International Foundation. The conference will feature 10 leading Nobel Peace Prize winners and 3,000 young PeaceJam leaders from around the world. The Nobel laureates will issue a call to action for the youth of the world to address injustice and promote peace. St. Thomas students will join their peers from across the country as mentors to the thousands of high school students who are PeaceJam leaders.
The following Nobel laureates will participate:
- The Dalai Lama
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- Rigoberta Menchú Tum
- President Oscar Arias
- Máiread Corrigan Maguire
- Jody Williams
- Shirin Ebadi
- José Ramos Horta
- Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
- Betty Williams
- Aung San Suu Kyi (by video; still under house arrest in Myanmar )
St. Thomas' Justice and Peace Studies Program, in partnership with local nonprofit "youthrive," the Upper Midwest affiliate of PeaceJam, is host to one of 15 international PeaceJam conferences each year. Last year's PeaceJam at St. Thomas featured Nobel laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai of Kenya and will conclude with the PeaceJam Slam on Nov. 4, 2006. The next PeaceJam Conference in March 2007 will welcome 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquival from Argentina, who won the prize for his work with nonviolent movements in Latin America.
Visit the PeaceJam International Foundation Web site for more information on this organization. If you'd like to be part of PeaceJam at St. Thomas, new and returning mentors are welcome for both the Nov. 4, 2006, PeaceJam Slam and the March 2007 PeaceJam Conference.
E-mail Mike Klein for more information.
