At Vassar, Peacebuilders Gather to Share Ideas for a More Connected World
In 2022, Chase Engel ’23 and Christopher Unruh ’23 spent the summer in Hawaii helping immigrants find jobs, housing, and health care. In the summer of 2024, Pranev Parekh ’25 and Clio Maya-Johnson ’25 volunteered for an organization that hires homeless people to raise fruit and vegetables on a farm in Santa Cruz, CA, enabling them to gain the skills to find employment and housing. The same summer, Wokrit Movel ’25 helped to refurbish a library in his hometown in Nigeria.
These endeavors were funded by Projects for Peace, an organization that provides $10,000 grants to students enrolled in more than 100 colleges to help them develop an awareness of what it takes to be a peacebuilder and changemaker. Since its founding in 2007, Projects for Peace has funded more than 2,200 proposals in more than 150 countries, 23 of them implemented by Vassar students. This year, Projects for Peace is funding 142 projects for students from 98 institutions.
In June, those administering Projects for Peace programs at 32 institutions gathered on the Vassar campus to exchange ideas and explore the convening theme, “The Ecology of Peacebuilding.” François Olivier, Vassar’s Director of Fellowships and coordinator of the College’s Projects for Peace program, pointed to the “cross-pollination” that took place during the three-day event. “The idea behind this gathering was to have all of us learn from each other because each college handles Projects for Peace a little differently,” Olivier said.
At Vassar, for example, proposals submitted by the students are evaluated by a committee consisting of faculty, administrators, and an alum, Brielle Irahoza ’24, who was awarded a Projects for Peace grant to fund a literacy program in her native Burundi. Other members of Vassar’s Selection Committee are: Katherine Hite, Professor of Political Science on the F. Thompson Chair; Amanda Munroe, Director of Restorative Practices for Engaged Pluralism; Elizabeth Cannon, Director of the Office of Community-Engaged Learning; and the Rev. Leonisa Ardizzone, Visiting Assistant Professor of Education.
Ardizzone served as keynote speaker at the event. In her address, she talked about her commitment to finding ways to promote peaceful solutions to the world’s problems. Her latest project has been the founding of the Peace Education Center of the Hudson Valley, located in Kingston, NY, about 15 miles from the Vassar campus. Its museum opened on July 10.
Ardizzone praised those at the conference for the work they were doing to promote peace throughout the world. “There are many paths to get there, as long as we remember that we have to get there together. We can each do our part, but we need to imagine ourselves as interlocking circles of change so we can share ideas and find support,” she said. “Don’t let others convince you to do otherwise. You all have beautiful work to do, and I for one will leave here tonight with even more hope that our world will be transformed.”:
Stacy Bingham, Associate Dean of the College for Career Education and a participant in one of the panel discussions, explained how the ethos of Projects for Peace aligned perfectly with Vassar’s. “Here, we believe that understanding peace requires understanding nearly everything else—history, ecology, psychology, literature, the arts, and the ways those disciplines illuminate each other,” Bingham said. “That spirit of intersectionality is, I think, very much the spirit of Projects for Peace.”
Projects for Peace Director Betsy Vegso said she was pleased to observe the collegiality among those who attended the conference. “I saw and felt a sense of community among people who may work in different offices at their colleges but share a commitment in helping students think about their roles in contributing to peace,” Vegso said:
“The Bartlett Center and Institute at Vassar were extraordinary settings,” she added. “These beautiful places, combined with the warm welcome from François and Stacy, set the tone for a deeply meaningful time together.”