Imagine traveling to Northern Ireland to research a way to end the violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics, or spending a summer in Southern Sudan to build a preschool. If these seem like humanitarian efforts for a seasoned social work graduate to tackle, you’d be wrong. They are projects any Elizabethtown College undergraduate can start with the help of the Paul M. Grubb Jr. Student Peace Award, a program of the Alumni Peace Fellowship.
The award is a chance for students to further their plans for global peace and justice. It offers $1000 to one selected applicant to pursue their research or service project. Applicants must fill out a form and provide a 500-word proposal that details their project. The deadline is Oct. 7 and the form can be found at www.etown.edu/centers/global/grubb.aspx.
The award enables students to express goodwill towards their fellow human beings beyond the boundaries that often restrain students from passing in the name of indifference and self-preservation.
Nancy Neiman-Hoffman, a founder of the Alumni Peace Fellowship, said “winners of this Grubb Student Peace Award are often led to what is a pivotal, sometimes life-changing experience. The experience of other — sometimes very different from one’s own — cultures, the coming to relate to real people living real lives, sometimes under harrowing circumstances, has the profound effect of enlarging the world, stretching the horizon, creating within the self a spaciousness that alters in a permanent way the way one views otherness.”
The first winner of the award, Laurelyn Foderaro in 2006, traveled to Northern Ireland. Foderaro studied conflict resolution in context of what Ireland refers to as “The Troubles.” Melanie Blevins, the winner in 2007, worked with women and children in Southern Sudan to assist in the establishment of a preschool. In 2008, David Bresnahan lived with a native family in Guatemala to investigate the preservation of a culture. Just recently, Nikki Koyste lived in Vietnam to work in an orphanage helping kindergarten and middle school children.
Such a life-changing award can be daunting to those apprehensive to apply, as it is incredibly competitive. The award is one of the signature programs of the Alumni Peace Fellowship. Some proposal tips the site offers are: “take time to think through your proposal with care. Highest consideration will be given to those showing evidence of thought, clarity and specificity. Avoid vague generalizations. A winning application could mean a pivotal experience in your life. The more you put into it, the greater the return.”
The award is an opportunity to enrich the lives of the less fortunate, and more importantly, to have an impact on those involved in its application.
Lois Herr, liaison and member of the Alumni Peace Fellowship said “students should develop projects that fulfill the purpose of the award by combining the belief that peacemaking is a viable approach to life with real-life actions that make a difference somewhere in the world.”
Students who want to truly embody Etown’s founding principles should involve themselves in the award. For those who desire to live up to the College’s vision of peace, non-violence, human dignity and social justice, the award’s deadline is this Monday, Oct. 7. It is a rare opportunity to improve the world for the better, and it is one that students should strive to achieve.
