the Informer

Sarah Wilson

“Peace,” “Pais,” “Damai” and fifteen other translations send their message of tranquility to passerbys on the academic side of campus.

Armed with a single blue flag piercing the snow, a small but devoted group stands in silent protest.

Every Wednesday for the past five years, regardless of weather conditions, Professor of Educational Leadership, Donn Weinholtz, has stood vigil for peace with a small group of students and faculty. In addition to Professor Weinholtz, faculty that regularly attends the weekly vigil include Associate Professor of Sociology Jay Stewart, Professor of Psychology Sharon Shepela, Professor of Biology Mary Dowst, and Professor of Education Nursing and Health Professions Peter Oliver.

“The vigil’s purpose has been to serve as a reminder to people that the war in the Middle East has persisted for a very long time; and to provide as a motivator to people to take some kind of action,” explained Weinholtz.

Any student or faculty interested in attending can go between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. on any Wednesday, where the vigil meets on the main campus lawn near the Auerbach Computer and Administration Center.

“We haven’t had too many students that came to the vigil, it’s rare. But I have to say that the drum circle started by Hannah Kluger, a student who is a sociology major, and the circle has attracted some more attention to the vigil,” stated Stewart.

Weinholtz expressed that the vigil isn’t just trying to keep people informed about the war, but as he explained, is “for those of us who do it it’s a reminder of what you should be paying attention to in terms of news, and we don’t do the vigil to convert people, but rather to keep them informed on the war.”

Stewart and Weinholtz are both a part of a group on campus called the Campus Alliance for Progressive Politics and Action [CAPPA], and Stewart explains that Weinholtz originally got the idea to hold a silent peace vigil on campus to keep people updated on the war in the Middle East.

“As soon as I found out about the vigil, I emailed people and we started to have the vigil weekly, and one day Donn and I [Stewart] were speaking at the vigil together, and we realized we should make it a vigil without silence so people can get a better message,” said Stewart.

The vigil itself is more than just informing people, and updating them on the war, since it has been going on, it has inspired faculty that attend to continue informing the campus through other ways.

“I actually started a blog because of the vigil, and is in relation to the vigil because it’s about transforming the military budget towards the war, and it’s interesting to see how the vigil has influenced people towards keeping not only themselves, but others knowledgeable about what’s going on overseas,” explains Weinholtz.

Weinholtz and the other faculty members are also working on a proposal to have a peace pole set up near the site of the vigil, where a four, or six sided pole would be erected, and would have the phrase “Let Peace Prevail,” be on each side of the pole in a different language.

“Donn and I [Stewart] are really working on getting the pole put up because it bears a lot of meaning. We have the support of Walt Harrison and Norm Young on campus, but we are awaiting a confirmation from John Michalewicz, the senior director of facilities in order to have the approval to have it set up,” stated Stewart.

The vigil goes on every week, and has even motivated Stewart and other faculty to work on proposing a minor on campus for peace studies and conflict resolution.

“I got the idea of working on a proposal because I think it would be helpful to people interested in being more educated through learning about various forms of conflict resolution,” says Stewart.

Since the beginning of the vigil there have been peace conferences held on campus and other areas due to discussions that occurred during and after the vigil.

“The vigil means a lot, but it definitely had an influence on how other things like the peace conferences, and peace pole came into being – and whether or not people can attend, by supporting the vigil there can be more opportunities to learn about what’s going on outside our own country,” said Stewart.