The Bahá’í Chair Celebrates 30 Years of Progress Toward Peace

TO CELEBRATE ITS 30TH ANNIVERSARY,

the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace hosted 350 international guests in January for an evening of reflection, appreciation and inspiration.

The event featured remarks from speakers including Provost Jennifer King Rice; Dean Susan Rivera; Kenneth Bowers, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States; and Sein Chew, President and CEO of Unity Asset Management.

“In keeping with the best traditions of our college and our practice, understandings must always be linked to solutions—and it is here that the Bahá’í Chair’s link to understanding and application articulates the highest values of the BSOS ethos,” Rivera said. “The Chair helps to make an argument as to why universities in general, and the social sciences in particular, remain critically relevant to the nation’s and the world’s success.”

Professor Hoda Mahmoudi, holder of the chair, offered a brief history of the institution, and thanked many attendees for their three decades of support. What, or rather who, will make world peace possible was Mahmoudi’s key message.

“The successes of peace will come from all of us, comprised of a fellowship of the willing. The work of peace will come from a collaboration of those dedicated to toiling in unison, regardful of the past, while being fully in the present, and with a mind to the future,” Mahmoudi said. “We invite you to help us imagine such a new world of peace.”

Bowers ended his remarks with the presentation of a generous $100,000 gift from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States to the Bahá’í Chair, which will enable future symposia, research, guest speakers and publications.

Via video and in-person testimonials, former and current students shared how the incumbents of the Bahá’í Chair—be it the late Professor Suheil Bushrui, Dr. John Grayzel, or Mahmoudi herself—impacted their life, personally and professionally.

Professor Rashawn Ray, a frequent lecturer at Bahá’í Chair events, shared the significance of Mahmoudi’s collaboration.

“I consider Hoda to be one of my mentors, one of my friends, and that is because for over a decade we have worked together on a systemic racism initiative. When we were trying to come up with something to work on together, I said ‘Well, I study race in America,’ and Hoda did not shy away from that in a period where people are continuing to shy away from how we think about prejudice and discrimination, in the United States and in a global context,” Ray said. “Whether it is systemic racism, sexism, climate change or other topics, the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace shows the human rights side and gives us hope that true world peace is possible.” •

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