Date: 02/29/2008
Students at the University of San Diego this month received firsthand tutelage on working toward solutions for the plight of Africa and the horrors of genocide from human rights activist and author John Prendergast.
The university's budding Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies hosted Prendergast – whose work to bring international attention to genocide in Sudan is highly regarded – as its first peace scholar in residence.
Throughout the month, Prendergast held office hours, screened films on genocide in Rwanda and Darfur and inspired student discussions with the resiliency of hope.
His goal, he said, was to “deepen the conviction for students to be agents of change.”
Prendergast is co-chairman of the ENOUGH Project, based in Washington D.C., which focuses on ending genocide in Africa. His book, “Not on Our Watch, co-written with actor Don Cheadle, won the NAACP Image Award.
His passion for helping Africa began at age 20, sparked by images of famine in Ethiopia.
“I hope that the seeds that I've tried to plant will germinate in the form of fairly serious present and future activists,” Prendergast said.
He's already inspired Summer Buckley, 20, who tutors students at a Sudanese community center in City Heights.
This summer she is planning a trip to Sudan with the center's director to help rebuild a school and work on getting clean water in wells there.
“Having John here, who is doing what I'd like to do, shows me this is possible,” Buckley said. “It's living proof that you can make a difference.”
Buckley has tried making her own difference on campus. In October, she started the USD chapter of STAND, an anti-genocide coalition.
Formerly known as Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, the USD chapter has raised awareness through a film screening, a fundraiser for women in Sudan and a cultural festival.
The School of Peace Studies, which was launched in August, is dedicated to helping prepare people to resolve conflicts at all levels. Students in the peace and justice master's program spend a year studying peace-building.
The school's dean, the Rev. William Headley, said he hopes to host other in-residence peace scholars such as Prendergast in the future.
“It has been quite a broad range of opportunity,” Headley said. “We're just getting under way.”
Prendergast, who said he travels to give talks about three times a week, will leave San Diego on Sunday.
“I like this,” he said. “I'm enjoying being more present in one place and cultivating talent and interests, instead of a hit-and-run.”
