Spotlights
Brooks College rededicates peace pole
September 23, 2019
Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies celebrated the 10th anniversary of the installation of the Peace Pole September 20, one day before the International Day of Peace.
The pole, located on the west side of Lake Ontario Hall, is engraved with the phrase, "May peace prevail on Earth" in eight different languages: English, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi and Bode'wadmi.
During the anniversary celebration, student, faculty and staff representatives of each language proclaimed the statement while standing next to the pole. The Bode'wadmi language was not spoken. We honor the People of the Three Fires: The Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi people whose people are indigenous to the lands and who care for it always.
Mark Shaub, interim dean of Brooks College, told those in attendance, the Peace Pole reminds the campus community of the university's mission toward peace.
"The fact that you’re all here standing together in solidarity shows us this ideal is not dead at Grand Valley, it’s not dead at the Padnos International Center and it’s not dead at Brooks College,” Shaub said. “Today we will reaffirm that by proclaiming in these eight languages, representing thousands of languages around the world, that we’re working toward it.”
This story originally appeared in a GVNext Article by Olivia Conaty.