Mark Schaub, interim dean of Brooks College, talks about the peace pole,
on the west end of Lake Ontario Hall.
Image credit - Rachael Mooney
Brooks College rededicates peace pole
Sep 23, 2019
The pole, located on the west side of Lake Ontario Hall, is engraved
with the phrase, "May peace prevail on Earth" in eight
different languages.
Image credit - Rachael Mooney
Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies celebrated the 10th anniversary of the installation of the Peace Pole September 20, one day before the International Day of Peace.
The pole, located on the west side of Lake Ontario Hall, is engraved with the phrase, "May peace prevail on Earth" in eight different languages: English, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi and Potawatomi.
During the anniversary celebration, student, faculty and staff representatives of each language proclaimed the statement while standing next to the pole. The Potawatomi language was not spoken, honoring the Odawa and Ojibwe people who once settled next to the Grand River near Grand Valley's Allendale Campus.
Mark Shaub, interim dean of Brooks College, told those in attendance, the Peace Pole reminds the campus community of the university's mission toward peace.
"The fact that you’re all here standing together in solidarity shows us this ideal is not dead at Grand Valley, it’s not dead at the Padnos International Center and it’s not dead at Brooks College,” Shaub said. “Today we will reaffirm that by proclaiming in these eight languages, representing thousands of languages around the world, that we’re working toward it.”
— written by student writer Olivia Conaty
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