THE UNITED NATIONS
AMY REBECCA MARSICO, MA ’09 // Manager of NYC-based stage productions; conflict and peacebuilding consultant // Presented arts-based approaches to peacebuilding to UN Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action // Did practicum for her MA at UNHCR in the Community Development, Gender Equality and Children section. // Promoted AGDM (age, gender and diversity mainstreaming), whereby refugee women, men, boys and girls contribute to the design and implementation of programs, identify own protection risks, and participate in finding sustainable solutions. // Helped develop the Heightened Risk Identification Tool, a field tool used to identify refugees at risk. // “To be part of work that was engaging in long-term change processes – seeing refugees as active partners instead of passively waiting for a handout – was incredibly meaningful.”
People of CJP FACULTY & STAFF William (Bill) Goldberg, MA ‘01, Harrisonburg, Va., became the director of the Summer Peacebuilding Institute in the summer of 2013. He has worked for EMU for a total of 13 years. Carl Stauffer ‘85, MA ‘02, PhD, assistant professor for CJP, gave the keynote address at the 15th annual Urban Initiatives Conference in Milwaukee, Wis. on May 29. The conference theme was “Restorative Practices: Repairing Harm and Building Community.” Elaine Zook ‘75, MA ‘03, STAR program director, and Howard Zehr, EMU distinguished professor of restorative justice, presented at the Pikes Peak Restorative Justice Council Symposium on May 9-10 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Elaine presented on “Trauma and Restorative Justice” and Howard on “Shame and the Implication for Resorative Justice.” Together, they led discussion on high-risk victim-offender conferencing.
ALUMNI NOTES Wilbur (Will) Bontrager ‘69, MA ‘99, Shortsville, N.Y., was selected to receive the 2013 Community Service
for Peace Award by the Center for Dispute Settlement in Canandaigua, N.Y. The award is given to a local citizen who, by word and deed, has promoted the causes of peace and nonviolence, civility and conciliation. Will founded the Finger Lakes Restorative Justice Center in 2000, now named Partners in Restorative Initiatives, and currently serves on its advisory board. He also serves on the board of directors for the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and is active in his faith community’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Nathan Barge ‘84, MA ‘99, Harrisonburg, Va., works as a restorative justice consultant based in Harrisonburg, Va. He recently returned from three weeks of training with the Mennonite Churches in Paraguay. He has edited a Spanish manual PREVIO for training restorative justice facilitators in victim- offender conferencing. Nathan himself speaks Spanish, having spent 14 years working in Latin America with Mennonite Central Committee. He also volunteers with the Fairfield Center in Harrisonburg with their Restorative Justice Programs. Gilberto Pérez Jr. ‘94, Grad. Cert. ‘99, Goshen, Ind., is associate profes-
sor of social work at Goshen College. He was recently appointed as a Plan Commission member. In 2012 Gilberto launched Bienvenido Community Solution (BCS), LLC, a company that works with community-based organizations to implement the Bienvenido mental health curriculum. BCS also works at building bridges with immigrants and the host dominant culture. A recent initiative is bringing law enforcement and Latino immigrant congregations for trust-building and open conversation on community policing efforts. Finally, BCS is working with Indiana University School of Medicine to conduct a research study on discrimination and mental health in Latino youth. Fidele Lumeya, MA ‘00, Silver Spring, Md., is the executive director for Congolese American Council for Peace and Development. Laura Brenneman ‘96, MA ‘00, PhD, Champaign, Ill., is an academic and peace activist who teaches adjunct for both EMU and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, as well as the University of Illinois, including a program in a local men’s prison. In addition to teaching and writing, she volunteers with restorative justice programs in
PHOTO by Jon Styer
her community. Previously, she was professor of religion and director of peace and conflict studies at Bluffton Univesity. Gopar Tapkida, MA ‘01, Zimbabwe, is pursuing a PhD through Africa International University in Kenya and has been assigned to Zimbabwe as the Mennonite Central Committee representative with his wife, Monica. Previously he was MCC’s regional peace adviser in West and Central Africa. Jonathan (Jon) Rudy, MA ‘01, Manheim, Pa., is currently teaching half time in the peace and conflict studies minor at Elizabethtown College in central Pennsylvania as the peacemaker in residence. He is working to connect the college with the University of Hargeisa in Somaliland. Jon continues to facilitate at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute in the Philippines. Kaushikee, MA ‘02, PhD, New Delhi, India, recently became an associate professor with the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution. In August 2013, she published a simple reader on issues in peace and conflict for postgraduate students. She also authored “Gandhian Nonviolent Action: A Case Study of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Struggle in Myanmar” in the
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