By Stacha Khatib
Western Sun staff writer
On Friday, April 16, the Student Center at Golden West College was transformed from a student hang-out into a thinking center where students, staff, community members and other proponents of peace, gathered to share ideas and listen to several key speakers and their ideas on how to create a non-violent future for our world.
The conference featured keynote speaker Jack DuVall, the founding director of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and executive producer of the documentary, “A Force More Powerful,” that has been featured in over 80 countries.
Mr. DuVall highlighted the triumphs of “people power” and how the power of reason along with solidarity will help to create a more peaceful world in his speech, “Strategies to Establish and Defend Human Rights, Democracy and Justice Worldwide.”
GWC’s president Wes Bryan was presented with an award on behalf of his work for peace. In his acceptance he said that efforts towards peace come from “joined hands… Every day, in every way, with open hands instead of closed fists.”
Other speakers and topics included “Environmentalism and the Future of Climate Change,” presented by Gary Dunham, who is an Environmental Activist and founder of Americagreenteam.org and “Building Economics based on Altruism,” presented by Nipun Mehta, founder of Charityfocus.org which provides web related services to the non-profit world for free.
In his topic, “The Power of Public Speech to Help Create Peaceful Communities,” Golden West College professor and co-founder of the peace Studies Program, Dr. Paul Tayyar, highlighted the calming effects of speeches from Robert Kennedy and James Brown in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King.
The final speaker of the evening was Lou Arnwine, a certified “Laughter Yoga” instructor. A retired kindergarten teacher, she extolled the healthful benefits of laughter, yoga breathing and joy and had everyone out on the floor together, practicing this special type of community-building art.
Karen Dickerson, a GWC Peace Studies counselor, who attends the conference every year, said she comes not only to learn more about peace studies, but because it is “always really inspiring.”
Golden West College, the Associated Students, the Peace Studies Program and Student Activities, along with CSU Fullerton, UCI, CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Pomona, Orange County Human Relations and the City of Huntington Beach, presented this yearly event.
