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‘Building Peace’ Panel Promotes Our Ability to ‘Do Extraordinary Things’ 

The late September evening was cool and peaceful in Elsah as students and community members filed into a packed Wanamaker Hall. But across the globe, tensions were at a boiling point. War in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran—and a highly contentious and consequential election here in the United States—has people across ethnic, ideological, and generational lines yearning for peace. 

Assembled on the Wanamaker stage were seven experts on building peace amid conflict—spiritual and societal, interpersonal and intrapersonal: Dr. Inge Schmidt, C.S., a Christian Science practitioner and Yale PhD with expertise in contested United States elections; Arnold Kalala, a senior at the College and native of conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo; Janessa Gans Wilder (C’98), a former CIA officer turned peacebuilder and nonprofit executive; Roger Gordon, Director of Spiritual Life and College Chaplain; Dr. Peter van Lidth de Jeude, historian and Assistant Dean of Academic Services at the College; Dr. Jennifer Stollman, Principia's Director of Belonging and Equity; and John Williams, JD (C’76), Professor of Political Science and former College President. Their topic for the evening was Building Peace: How We Can Contribute to Peace Through Prayer, Healing, and Action

“This panel discussion on building peace is critical at this point in history,” proclaimed College President Dr. Daniel Norton, “and it’s also important that this discussion is happening here at Principia College, where we have the highest percentage of international students in the United States.” 

Both Gordon and Wilder had spent time deployed to active combat zones; Dr. Stollman and Schmidt have spent their professional lives engaged in the work of helping individuals and communities find peace within their own ranks; and Williams has spent his career traveling to and studying areas of instability and conflict, preparing others for success in geopolitical dynamics.  

While the panel featured a collection of impressive individuals, Dr. Stollman set the tone for the night with the statement: “You do not have to be extraordinary to do extraordinary things.” 

Fittingly for a discussion on peace, a consensus quickly emerged: “Peace must start within. We can’t be peacebuilders or peace ambassadors without cultivating a sense of inner peace,” said Wilder. “What are each of us doing to cultivate that inner peace? How are we listening to others? How are we practicing forgiveness and compassion? The form that peacebuilding can take is infinite.” 

Wilder summarized the evening by recounting, “Irving Tomlinson once said, ‘Mary Baker Eddy understood that the way to universal peace must begin in the consciousness of the individual.’” 

The panelists brought wide-ranging experiential and spiritual perspectives to the topic of peace, agreeing that peace is always possible. “If your thinking is in the model of ‘peacemaking is action,’” Williams explained, “the answers to conflicts will be actively available to you.” 

Watch the panel and learn how to become an ambassador for peace in your life.