Promoting alternatives to violence since 2004 - 2023 / 2024 -
ANNUAL REPORT
It’s amazing to think about the Ashland Center for Nonviolence turning twenty! What began as an effort by members of the Ashland University campus and the wider Ashland community to challenge America’s planned invasion of Iraq in the Winter of 2002 and 2003 turned into an organization that has now been doing tremendous peace work for over two decades. ACN was established in 2004 to promote alternatives to violence. As it happens, the concern was never only about one war, but about finding alternatives to violence at all levels—from the geopolitical down to the interpersonal and even within ourselves.
Violence is not only physical, but extends to lots of areas that we might not have thought of at first. For example, how can I express my needs and feelings without blaming or attacking others? How can I show more kindness and compassion to others, even those I disagree with or find challenging?
As I write this, division, lack of trust, and tribal thinking characterize a lot of political interaction in the United States. But how can I contribute to creating a more peaceful and supportive environment at home, work, and in my community? How would I feel if I were in the other person's situation? What might the other person be experiencing that I am not aware of?
These are enduring political questions that we need to keep working on! To me, nonviolence names much more than a refusal to use violence. It names something much larger, more elusive, and definitely more wonderful: states of wholeness and harmony and the efforts of pursuing those states by means, such as compassion, that are compatible with them.
Message from the Executive Director
Over the past year, ACN continued to promote peace and nonviolence through education and training. Highlights include working with Ashland University students in our Peace Scholars Program, learning from Jillian Peterson about how to stop mass shootings, gathering periodically with the Social Justice Book Club, discussing the Israel / Gaza conflict with a virtual panel, hosting holocaust scholar Yossi Kugler from Yad Vashem, watching the film screening of the riveting documentary “What I Want You to Know” and hearing from the producers about their work, learning about our own conflict styles, and mentoring fourth and fifth graders at Taft Elementary School.
To celebrate ACN’s twentieth year, we marked the Season for Nonviolence, returning to a practice we learned years ago from Arun Gandhi. Nonviolence is for every day and every season! But we especially focused on a time period in the Spring bookended by the assassination dates of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr We kicked off this special season with a powerful visit from Rev. Naomi Tutu and then reflected each day on words and practices related to peace. We are grateful for support from the Archers, the AU Honors Program, and the Ashland County Community Foundation to make this event happen.
The Season for Nonviolence was an amazing celebration.
Our conference theme, “Peace Through Peaceful Means,” perfectly captured so much of what we’re about, bringing together scholars and practitioners from a variety of fields. Our keynote, Emily Welty, showed us her amazing brand of joyful activism as she shared about her work to abolish nuclear weapons
The 2023-2024 year was an amazing celebration. Thank you to everyone who played a part. Here’s to the next twenty years!
Peace, Craig
Hovey,
ACN Executive Director
About ACN
The Ashland Center for Nonviolence at Ashland University promotes alternatives to violence through programs, education, training and building relationships that foster awareness and consideration of issues related to nonviolence and social justice, and supports ways to create a caring community that is inclusive and just.
We seek a world in which human conflict at all levels can be resolved without resorting to violence and in which social justice can be realized.
“Naomi Tutu spoke of appreciating each other's cultures and stories. We need to acknowledge race because it often is a part of our identity. Tutu said, "God created me as a black woman because he needed me to be a black woman at this time." We need not be ashamed of who we are and we must be actively curious about who others are. We must seek to understand each other as that is how we find the humanity in one another, and that is how we face these issues.”
2023–2024
At a Glance
September 18, 2023 - Steering Committee Meeting
September 25, 2023 - ACLU presentation: “Know Your Rights”
October 10, 2023 - The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic with Dr. Jillian Peterson
November 8, 2023 - Food for Thought with Dr. Kirsty Jones
November 14, 2023 - Israel and Palestine virtual panel
January 30th, 2024 - Keynote Address & Season for Nonviolence kickoff event with Rev. Naomi Tutu
February 51, 2024 - Yad Vashem Visiting Professor Yossi Kugler, “Knowledge and Lack of Knowledge in the Holocaust”
February 23, 2024 - 9th Annual John D. Stratton Conference
Keynote: Dr. Emily Welty, “Courage and Hope (for what feels like) the End of the World”
February 24, 2024 - 9th Annual John D. Stratton Conference: Peace Through Peaceful Means
March 21, 2024 - Documentary Screening “What I Want You to Know”
March 26, 2024 - Exploring Conflict Management
Techniques training with Dr. Deleasa Randall-Griffiths
April 15, 2024 - Steering Committee Meeting
June 17, 2024 - Steering Committee Meeting
o c i a l J u s t i c e B o o k C l u b
“This was my first year participating in the Social Justice Book Club. The club allowed me to not only expand my personal reading repertoire, but also interact with a diverse group of faculty, students, and friends of the Center for Nonviolence. I enjoyed both its stimulating book selection and thoughtprovoking conversations with fellow members.”
Olga Monacell Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Peace Scholars Program
Building the next generation of peacemakers.
“Being a peace scholar allows me to discuss current events with likeminded peers and attend events with great guest speakers.”
— Reid Opel, Class of 2026
“I like being a peace scholar because of the involvement with the school and the community and I love what we stand for.”
— Katelynn Roach, Class of 2025
The purpose of the ACN Peace Scholars program is to enrich students’ knowledge of nonviolence, enhance their leadership skills, and provide opportunities for peacerelated experiences. These students are equipped to make a difference for peace in our world.
JOHN D. STRATTON
Annual Conference
The 9th Annual John D. Stratton conference, titled “Peace Through Peaceful Means,” was a resounding success. Nonviolence is also often described as the best means of achieving lasting justice, echoing A. J. Muste”s famous insistence that “peace is the way”.
Conference participants explored the conceptual, philosophical, and religious groundworks for this claim as well as practical ways to act in the world based on it.
The keynote speaker, Dr. Emily Welty, whose work with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, inspired attendees to find ways to act for meaningful change.
The conference fostered a dynamic exchange of ideas, with standout presentations that resonated deeply with participants. Overall, the conference achieved its goal of exploring critical questions about the unity of means and ends that accompanies true peace.
“I loved hearing the other presenters, I had plenty of time to talk to people and expand my network.”
“I heard some dynamite presentations. I met some really interesting scholars, students, and activists.”
