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The Honors Program at ӣ����Ƶ of California, in partnership with the university’s Rotaract Club and the Dominican Veterans Association, hosted an induction ceremony for a Peace Pole on April 21 on Anne Hathaway Lawn.

The Peace Pole Project is part of an international movement called “May Peace Prevail On Earth,” which is meant “to inspire and re-awaken the inherent consciousness of love, peace, and harmony which exists in every one of us. It is a movement to bring inner peace of mind and to foster peace in the works at large.” ()

Dominican President Nicola Pitchford read a prose based on the theme “What Peace Means To Me.” The induction ceremony at Dominican included a land acknowledgement statement by Stacy Poe, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and a keynote address by Major Reneé Marie, an MFA in Creative Writing student at Dominican. She is a U.S. Army Retired Reserve Officer and Founder of Peace Poles For Schools who struck up a conversation with Honors students in Edgehill Mansion one day, a meeting that inspired the Peace Pole at Dominican.

“The students excitedly suggested this as an opportunity for the program. At the same time, there were other units on campus, notably Santos Carter from the Veterans Association, who were made aware of the opportunity by Reneé and wondered how to get students involved,” said Lynn Sondag, art professor and director of Dominican’s Honors Program “Everything came together beautifully, and we soon moved forward. This speaks to how meaningful it is to our community to have a visual, physical symbol of world peace.”

The induction ceremony included the laying of painted rocks created at a special Peace Pole Project event, organized by the Rotoract Club and Yesica Diaz-Gomez, Program and Events Manager for the Institute for Leadership Studies, earlier this month. The Peace Pole reveal was led by Honors student and nursing major Helena Harris ’23.

“I'm very proud of the Honors students who stepped up to take the lead on the project. They have passionately worked on key aspects from designing the Peace Pole to planning the ceremony,” Sondag said. “They researched the global movement and spoke with Reneé, sought input for the selection of the eight languages, planned the dedication ceremony events and music, set up a medium site for the students' writings on Peace, and reached out to their peers, groups and organizations on campus to get involved.”

The Peace Pole at Dominican, which is permanently emplaced at Poet’s Corner adjacent to Anne Hathaway Lawn, features eight different languages on the sides of the Pole. Each language is a translation of the mantra or universal wish prayer “May Peace Prevail On Earth.”
According to the World Peace organization: May Peace Prevail On Earth, “allows us to sincerely focus on our mutual desire to serve, create, and manifest true peace on earth while transcending our differences and celebrating our common humanity.”

“Individuals and communities witness and experience tragedies, pain, and injustices,” Sondag said. “The Peace Pole, located in the beautiful Poet's Corner on campus, can be a physical symbol to help us contemplate equanimity and solace that exists, and what we aim to defend, protect, and advocate for in our daily actions and collective efforts.”

For more information, please email lynn.sondag@dominican.edu or helena.harris@students.dominican.edu.

Photo above are painted rocks created for Peace Pole Project ceremony from event hosted by Dominican Rotoract Club.