“When you see them pouring themselves into the work of justice and peace, and you see them giving and giving, remind them to pause, please,” Schaeffer, director of programs at CJP, said. “Remind them to rest. Remind them to seek out something joyful because this work needs them, but it needs them whole.”

The ceremony honored graduates of CJP’s master’s degree and graduate certificate programs and was held Sunday afternoon in Martin Chapel following 91����Ƶ’s 108th annual Commencement.

This year marks the 30th anniversary celebration of the CJP, which was co-founded and led by John Paul Lederach. His daughter, Dr. Angela Lederach, delivered the Commencement address earlier Sunday.

Graduates from 91����Ƶ’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding are embraced and recognized by CJP faculty and staff during the annual Celebration of Blessings in Martin Chapel on Sunday.

In the heartfelt ceremony, CJP faculty and staff members Dr. Gloria Rhodes, Amy Knorr, Dr. Paula Ditzel Facci, and Dr. Joe Cole provided words of tribute for each graduate. The following CJP graduates were recognized:

Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation

Diego Crespo Guido of Mexico City, Mexico

Jamila Gaskins of Los Angeles

Hannah Gilman of Salt Lake City

Chelsea Griffin of Flagstaff, Arizona

Leslie Meja of Nairobi, Kenya

Jacob Sankara of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

CatiAdele Slater of Upperville, Virginia

Tamera Vaughan-Drozd of Vienna, Virginia

Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation

Spike Coleman of Charleston, South Carolina

Devin Withrow of Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Master of Arts in Restorative Justice

Maria Arias of Viedma, Argentina

LaToya Fernandez of West Hartford, Connecticut

Sofía Garcia Pini of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Graduate Certificate in Restorative Justice

Réka Bordás-Simon of Nyíregyháza, Hungary

Mallery McShine of Fredericksburg, Virginia

Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership

Josiah Ludwick of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Tyler Stanley of Harrisonburg, Virginia

Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88 (left) and Kory Schaeffer MA ’24 (right), co-directors of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, offer their welcome remarks.

As the graduates go out to create a more just and peaceful world, they also weave a web of connections and build an extended community of learning, Professor Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88, academic director of CJP, said in her remarks.

“We’re a small community, and 91����Ƶ is a very small university,” Rhodes said. “But together, we are enormous.”

She said there are more than 23,000 91����Ƶ graduates around the world, including more than 800 who have earned degrees from CJP’s master’s programs.

As a CJP alumnus, Schaeffer said he shared the graduates’ joy and quiet solidarity, as well as their sense of how much they had cared, questioned, and transformed throughout their time at CJP.

“This work was never just the books you read or the papers you wrote,” he said. “It was also the gray hairs, the tears, the tightness in your body, and the moments you questioned everything. It was the weight, literal or metaphorical, that comes with doing work that is both deeply personal and profoundly collective.”

LaToya Fernandez, an MA in restorative justice graduate, shares the journey that led her to CJP.

Conflict transformation graduates Hannah Gilman (left) and Jamila Gaskins (right) reflect on their experiences in the program.

Graduates LaToya Fernandez, Jamila Gaskins, Hannah Gilman, and Jacob Sankara shared their perspectives.  

Fernandez recalled visiting Ghana a couple of years ago and experiencing something there that changed her life. “I grieved there, I left my burdens there, I cried for my ancestors,” she said. “I learned things about myself that I didn’t know.”

She left Africa with a mission to bring that sense of healing to her communities and to the United States. She had applied to another school’s restorative justice program, which offered her a full scholarship, when a friend encouraged her to learn more about CJP. “You want to go to a place that’s going to value you and all your decolonizing institution ways,” Fernandez recalled her friend telling her. “That’s exactly what happened. I came to 91����Ƶ and I fell in love.”

Gaskins, who spoke at 91����Ƶ’s Lavender Graduation two days prior, asked the crowd when they last breathed. “Not a shallow breath, the kind most of us live on, tight chest, shoulders up near our ears, but a full breath. One that goes all the way down, opens up the belly, and reminds you that you are here, present, alive.”

“So many of us are chest breathers, and I say this with love and a little humor, because chest breathing is a perfectly functional way to stay alive, but it cuts us off,” she said. “It blocks access to the richness of our emotional experience, the very experience this work demands we stay connected to. We cannot feel our way into someone else’s suffering if we are numb to our own.”

Gilman said their past two years in the program have involved real sacrifice, balancing work, family, stressful logistics, and a dream. There have been many hard moments and even some tears, but also triumphs, laughter, and joy. There were moments of fear, and they showed up anyway.

“What a unique experience it has been to do this in a place like CJP,” she said. “With faculty and staff who knew us, challenged us, believed in us, and who, bless them, gave us extensions. I’m so grateful to share this era of growth with you, this particular season of becoming, of stretching, of learning what we are made of and made for.”

Mukarabe Inandava-Makinto (right), a CJP student, her husband, Makinto GC ’26 (left), and their son, Joël Friebe-Makinto, perform the musical prelude

CJP students Virginia Maina and Kensly Cassy offer student blessings (left). Amy Knorr (right), CJP’s peacebuilding practice director, provides the graduate sending. “This is actually my favorite day of the entire year, even more than Christmas,” Knorr said. “And it’s not because summer break begins tomorrow, but because we are sending forth so many graduates who will go on to change and transform the world.”

Sankara shared that he felt two emotions when he received his acceptance to the CJP program: excitement and intimidation. “Some of my colleagues at [Mennonite Central Committee], when I was working there, had gone through the program, and they spoke about it with a kind of reverence,” he said.

Along with those emotions came real anxiety. How would Sankara, an international student from Burkina Faso, find the money to fund his studies? He said his family’s visa situation was also uncertain. “I had to make a decision to trust God and move forward, even without having all the answers, and slowly things began to unfold,” he said.

He received a helpful scholarship from CJP and support from friends and family. Eventually, his family was able to come to the United States and was there to celebrate with him on Sunday. Sankara described CJP as more than a program, calling it a community.

“When I say community, I don’t mean a group of people who simply agree with each other,” Sankara said. “I mean a space where we celebrate, laugh together, and step on each other’s feet, not once but repeatedly. But the difference is that we acknowledge it, address it, and grow through it.”

“Peace is like an egg,” Lederach said. “It is delicate and fragile, but in the right conditions, it gives life.”

Lederach is an assistant professor of peace and justice studies at Chapman University. She has spent more than a decade working with grassroots peacebuilders in Colombia to transform violent conflict, expand possibilities for environmental justice, and cultivate more just and livable communities. She is the author of Feel the Grass Grow: Ecologies of Slow Peace in Colombia and co-author of When Blood and Bones Cry Out: Journeys Through the Soundscape of Healing and Reconciliation.

Commencement weekend served as a homecoming for Lederach, whose father, John Paul, co-founded 91����Ƶ’s internationally recognized Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and served as its first director. Her presence at the ceremony coincided with the center’s 30th anniversary celebration.

Graduates of the Class of 2026 attend 91����Ƶ’s 108th annual Commencement on Sunday in Yoder Arena.

Dr. Angela J. Lederach (left) recalled attending 91����Ƶ commencements as a child and fully immersing herself in the campus fountain’s “crystal clear waters” while dressed in her Sunday best. “If you want to know the real reason why you are inside today instead of outside, you know where to direct the blame,” she joked with graduates. Kylik Bradshaw (right), a liberal arts graduate, beams during the big day.

Lederach spoke about how she has learned from peacebuilders and CJP alumni around the world to listen for the sounds of justice. Alumni such as Emmanuel Bombande MA ’02 and Leymah Gbowee MA ’07, who worked to bring peace to West Africa and Liberia, taught her to speak the language of justice, while Larisa Zehr ’11 in Colombia showed her how to walk alongside people pursuing peace in the wake of dehumanizing violence.

“To speak the language of justice requires courage,” she said. “Not the loud bravado that conceals cowardice and blares from the world stage today, but the quiet courage found in the register of everyday life, in the recognition of our shared humanity, in our willingness to stand up and say ‘never again,’ and in our ability and willingness to sacrifice for one another.”

That courage emanates from the lives of people like Michael “MJ” Sharp ’05, who was killed in 2017 while working as a United Nations expert on armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“The language of justice is rooted in hope,” Lederach said. “…And I have to say, Class of 2026, the work of guarding hope is not easy.”

“And yet, as graduates of this institution have taught me over and over again,” she added, “it is precisely by slowing down enough to notice and attend to the lives and possibilities found close to the ground that dreams are protected and held and continue to grow, even amid violence.”

Cords of Distinction recipient Irais Barrera Pinzon, a political science and Spanish language & Hispanic studies graduate, smiles wide during Commencement.

Arelys Martinez Fabian (left) and Yenifer Dottin-Carter ’23 (right) present the graduate perspectives.

Undergraduates Dylan Hall and Arelys Martinez Fabian, along with MA in Counseling graduate Yenifer Dottin-Carter ’23, presented the graduate perspectives.

Hall reflected on the bittersweet emotions many were feeling as they left behind the dorms they once called home, the friends who joined them on their journeys, and the places on campus where memories were made. “But those memories are not leaving us,” he said. “They are a part of us. They are who we have become. As we turn this page in our lives, we will be taking a part of 91����Ƶ into our occupations.”

Reading from Matthew 5:13-17, he called on his fellow graduates to act as the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” He said it’s easy to go through the motions, to blend in and lay low. “But I encourage you, whatever you do, to go the extra mile. Be a light in people’s lives. Stand out, work hard, and make an impact.”

Martinez Fabian recalled feeling a mix of excitement, fear, and uncertainty when applying to colleges four years ago. She said she didn’t know where life would take her, but she knew she was stepping into something bigger than she could ever imagine. Like many of her fellow graduates, she wasn’t just chasing her own dreams but also carrying the hopes of her family.

“This finish line isn’t just about my goals, it’s about my parents’ goals,” she said. “It’s about their journey, the miles they traveled from their homes, the long years of difficult work, and the challenge of learning a new language and navigating a new culture.”

Through it all, the late-night study sessions and Common Grounds conversations, she said, “we found our people.” She said she has been fortunate to meet friends who have become her lifeline throughout her time at 91����Ƶ. “So I ask you this: How lucky are we that saying goodbye feels this hard? That kind of sadness only exists because of how meaningful those connections are.”

Dottin-Carter shared the story of her path to 91����Ƶ, beginning with her family’s immigration from the Dominican Republic to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her eventual move to Harrisonburg with her then-boyfriend, now husband, Isaiah MA ’22 (restorative justice). She invited graduates to imagine the countless stories lived among them, of triumph, hardship, laughter, and sorrow, that will be carried within them as a collective memory.

She encouraged graduates to find a space where their story is honored, their presence is valued, and their legacy is seen. “And if you cannot find it, build it,” she said. “Find your people, find your place, find space where you are loved, understood, and validated.”

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus presides over 91����Ƶ’s 108th annual Commencement.

The ceremony recognized 304 graduates from 23 states, Puerto Rico, and 15 countries.

This marked Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus’ first Commencement as interim president. In her opening remarks, she said many of the Class of 2026 graduates began their time at 91����Ƶ during a season shaped by significant cultural and political change.

“You’ve navigated a world marked by tension, rapid shifts, and real questions about identity, belonging, and truth,” she said. “In the midst of it all, you stayed grounded in your learning. You stayed grounded with one another. You demonstrated resilience, discernment, and a willingness to engage complexity rather than turn away from it.”

The Rev. Gordon Meriwether, a member of the 91����Ƶ Board of Trustees, led the opening invocation. The 91����Ƶ Chamber Singers, led by Dr. Benjamin Bergey, performed a musical selection. Divisional deans Rev. Dr. Sarah Bixler and Dr. Michael Horst presented the graduates. Provost Dr. Tynisha Willingham commissioned the graduates. Retiring professors Dr. Doug Graber Neufeld and Deanna Durham delivered the Commencement blessing.

Watch a video recording of Commencement below!

More than a series of classes, SPI is a place to learn in community. Participants live on campus, share meals, attend lectures, and build connections that last long after the program ends.

This year’s sessions will be held May 18-26, May 28-June 5, and June 8-12.

The application deadline for U.S. participants is May 8. Learn more and apply at .

Patience Kamau ’02, MA ’17 (conflict transformation), stands outside the post office in Nyahururu, central Kenya, and holds a letter. Its mailing address is written to her in blue ink, while the return address lists an “91����Ƶ” in Harrisonburg, Virginia, of the United States. The high school senior tears open the envelope and starts reading. The letter inside tells her that 50% of her tuition costs at 91����Ƶ will be covered through the university’s International Grant.

Though that moment occurred nearly three decades ago, Kamau remembers it like it was yesterday. “That was among the greatest blessings I ever received,” she said, looking back.

She didn’t know much about the U.S. at the time, and even less about 91����Ƶ, but her decision to cross an ocean and enroll at the university would forever shape her future. “It was very clear it was shifting the trajectory of my life,” she said.

Soon after receiving that first letter, she received another from 91����Ƶ with an invitation. “Bring an open heart,” Kamau recalled reading, “because here you will make friendships and relationships that you will maintain for the rest of your life.”

“And that was true,” she said. “Many of the relationships I formed at 91����Ƶ remain meaningful in my life.”

She admitted that she didn’t choose 91����Ƶ; her father chose it for her. He had heard through family friends about “a little college in Harrisonburg” with a strong pre-med program. “He started looking into it, reading and studying it, and he liked it,” Kamau said. 

She arrived as a pre-med major in the fall of 1998. Her parents were physicians, and they encouraged her to follow in their footsteps. Kamau enjoyed biology classes during her first year at 91����Ƶ, but once she started taking organic chemistry her sophomore year, she realized it was not for her. She quickly switched majors to computer information systems.

She became close with the handful of other international students on campus and got involved with the university’s multicultural and international programs, where she came under the wing of Delores “Delo” Blough ’80, former director of international student and scholar services. “Delo was a huge part of making all of us feel at home,” she said.

After graduating in 2002, Kamau worked in a variety of campus departments, including the alumni and parent relations office, the seminary, and the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. She eventually landed a position at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, serving as assistant to the executive director while a student at CJP. As a perk of her job, she said, she could take eight credit hours a year at no charge.

Six years ago, as chair of CJP’s 25th anniversary committee, she began producing a series of Peacebuilder podcast episodes featuring the program’s faculty and staff to capture CJP’s oral history. According to an 91����Ƶ News article from 2022, the podcast had logged more than 11,500 listeners in 119 countries and territories around the globe.

Since 2022, Kamau has served as program director for . The online course and connection platform offers activists, innovators, and others seeking knowledge and tools a space to “manifest solutions for people and planet,” according to its website.

Kamau said she categorizes her life as “100% lucky.” Half of that luck comes from the random happenstances she had nothing to do with. The other 50% is the kind of serendipitous luck when “preparation meets opportunity,” she said, borrowing a favorite phrase from Oprah.

“You try and live a certain way and prepare, and then when the opportunity arises, you hopefully take advantage of it,” she said. “I couldn’t have been more grateful to have ended up at 91����Ƶ as a young adult who didn’t fully know who I was or what I wanted from life.”

Your support helps students pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Join us for the 10th annual Lov91����Ƶ Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future 91����Ƶ students. On April 1, let’s show that our generosity knows no bounds…for the record!

Born and raised in the Mennonite church, Rhodes grew up believing she was called to be a peacemaker. But that early understanding of peace, she admits, made her avoid conflict rather than engage in it.

Then, two students, burly Russian men seated near the back of the classroom, began arguing. 

Within moments, the tension shifted. Chairs scraped. Voices sharpened. The exchange turned physical. And Rhodes realized something that would change the course of her life.

“I could talk about peace, but I didn’t actually know how to respond when presented with conflict,” she said. “When I returned to the United States, I knew I needed to learn how to handle conflict.”

She scuttled her previous plans to pursue a graduate degree in English and instead studied conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University, earning both a master’s degree and a PhD. While at graduate school, she was hired by Professor Emeritus Dr. Vernon Jantzi ’64 to help coordinate the newly launched Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at 91����Ƶ. 

For 34 years, Rhodes has taught at 91����Ƶ, primarily in its world-renowned Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP). Today, she serves as academic director of CJP and professor of peacebuilding and conflict studies. She also teaches courses in conflict transformation and peacebuilding for the undergraduate program and the master of nursing program. 

Rhodes has led semester and summer intercultural programs in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, South Korea, and the Navajo Nation. She has served as department chair of 91����Ƶ’s Applied Social Science Department, administrative director of SPI, and as a program assistant for the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution.

With SPI turning 30 this year, we sat down with the long-tenured professor to talk about the values-based education offered at CJP and how students are bringing more peace and justice to the world.

The following responses are from an interview that Rhodes conducted with photographer and videographer Macson McGuigan ’17. A video from their interview will publish later this spring. These responses were edited for conciseness.

What’s unique about CJP?

Many other programs teach basic communication or mediation skills, but what we add at 91����Ƶ goes deeper. Our focus is on who you are and what you bring. Beyond the technical skills of conflict transformation, students engage in deep reflection and introspection around questions of:

• Who am I?
• What are my values and identities?
• What do I uniquely contribute to this work?
• And where do I fit in creating a more just and peaceful world?

We challenge students to connect their personal growth with leadership. They consider how to bring these skills and values into the places where they already work and lead. That combination of skill and self-assessment is the value we offer.

What can CJP grads do with their degrees?

There are generally three directions our students take. 91����Ƶ a third go into direct practice, often working with nonprofit or non-governmental organizations anywhere in the world. These roles can include mediation centers, community outreach, or other supporting positions where they apply skills like facilitating discussions and bringing together diverse groups to meet community needs.

Another third pursue further education. Many go on to doctoral programs to study conflict more deeply, contribute to policy, or prepare to teach in this relatively new field. 

The final third continue in their current careers in positions ranging from ministry, health care, business, and government. They’re drawn to CJP because they want to improve how people work together, make decisions, and solve complex problems.

Why should people study at CJP?

We are truly about creating a learning community together. This isn’t a place where you come to be filled up with knowledge. You come because you want to explore your part in making the world more peaceful, and together, we figure out how to bring more peace and justice to the world. 

We can’t do it alone, and no single set of skills fits every situation. That’s why our approach is based on mutuality and learning, where everyone’s experiences and knowledge matter. Students contribute what they know, and at the same time, gain practical skills they can use in their own contexts.

Our focus is on practice, not just theory or research. We care about what people can do to make the world more peaceful and just. CJP is a place to learn, share, and build that future together.

What kinds of hands-on experience is offered at CJP?

Our curriculum is intentionally designed to include hands-on practice in the community. For example, in the facilitation course, our graduate students are contracted by local groups and organizations to help facilitate meetings or support decision-making processes. While students are learning and practicing new skills, the organizations also benefit from their work.

At the end of the master’s program, students can choose a traditional thesis, but most complete a practicum. These opportunities are diverse, ranging from restorative justice and trauma healing to mediation, facilitation, and training. Alumni often connect current students with new practice opportunities, ensuring a rich network of real-world engagement.

What is the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI)?

Part of how we support our students is by offering courses in the summer, not as traditional summer school, but as a training institute. These courses and trainings, held in May and June, allow anyone to explore topics related to conflict, restorative justice, and other areas of practice. Courses generally last five to seven days, and multiple courses run simultaneously over the two-month period. 

SPI is intentionally designed as a learning community. Students live in dorms, attend classes and lectures, and learn from one another, all while experiencing what it means to live together in a diverse community. It’s both a retreat and a training space. As one alum described, SPI is like a well where people can take a drink of water. It’s not going to feed them forever, but it’s nourishment they can take back into their work and communities.

A description of the states:
In this bold anthem, feminist organizer and bestselling author Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee share their parallel journeys as activists. … (Their) dual paths have inspired a friendship empowered by the principles of equality, progress, and hope for a new generation. Here, two friends come together to tell one uplifting story of girls and women strengthening one another and changing the world.

Watch the video of their appearance below!

91����Ƶ CBS Mornings

Each weekday morning, CBS Mornings co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson bring you the latest breaking news, smart conversation and in-depth feature reporting. CBS Mornings airs weekdays at 7 a.m. on CBS and streams at 8 a.m. on the CBS News app.

91����Ƶ Leymah Gbowee

Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, social worker, and women’s rights advocate. She is founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, based in Monrovia. As a writer, Gbowee is the author of the inspirational memoir Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, and the children’s book A Community of Sisters. She is perhaps best known for leading a nonviolent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s devastating, 14-year civil war in 2003. Gbowee returned to 91����Ƶ to deliver commencement addresses in 2014 and 2018, the latter year being when she was awarded 91����Ƶ’s first honorary doctorate.

91����Ƶ Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a political activist, feminist organizer, and the author of many acclaimed books, including the national bestseller Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem. She is a contributor to the classic children’s book Free to Be You and Me. She is also the cofounder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Women’s Media Center. In keeping with her deep commitment to establishing equality throughout the world, Steinem helped found Equality Now, Donor Direct Action, and Direct Impact Africa.

The book features a foreword by renowned restorative justice pioneer and 91����Ƶ Professor Emeritus Dr. Howard Zehr, who also contributed a collection of landscape photographs that visually underscore the book’s central themes of reflection, connection, and renewal. As a graduate of 91����Ƶ’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Waugh draws on both her professional experience and academic grounding to offer practical guidance for lawyers seeking to cultivate more compassionate, community-centered approaches to legal practice.

The book is available to order at the publisher’s site .

LOS ANGELES VISIONARY ARTIST AND FUTURIST FABRICE GUERRIER MA ’15 (CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION) has been selected by 91����Ƶ’s Alumni Association and its Awards and Nomination Committee as the 2025 Alum of the Year for his work as founder and CEO of (pronounced Syll-a-ble), the first collaborative worldbuilding production house for science fiction and fantasy storytelling. 

“Being selected for this award feels quite unbelievable and affirms my work around collaborative worldbuilding,” said Guerrier, who defines worldbuilding on his website () as “the creation of intricate, plausible fictional universes often found in sci-fi, fantasy, and video games.” 

In collaborative worldbuilding, underrepresented creators from diverse cultures come together to imagine and publish their shared stories. 

A refuge of books

Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Guerrier immigrated with his family to Coral Springs, Florida, when he was 13. Already fluent in French and Haitian Creole, Guerrier learned English as his third language. 

“It’s kind of magic… being Haitian from an Afrocentric world… being from an island… being able to speak multiple languages,” said Guerrier. 

Nevertheless, Guerrier was an exile in a foreign country, forced to flee the 2004 Haitian coup d’état. He says while he “wanted to be an American,” the more he tried to fit in, the more he felt like he was destroying a precious part of himself. 

Guerrier found refuge at Northwest Regional Library, where he worked as a page, volunteered, helped with community programming, and explored everything from manga and comics to encyclopedias and films to nonfiction and sci-fi books. His curiosity sparked Syllble, an idea that was furthered while reading “Blindness,” an essay in Jorge Luis Borges’ “Seven Nights” collection, as a sophomore at Florida State University. 

“I resonated with how Borges described being in a library as the closest thing to heaven, and how his blindness allowed him to see things in different ways. The impact of his words inspired me to become a writer,” said Guerrier. 

Healing and growth

After graduating from Florida State in 2013 with a bachelor of science degree in international affairs and a leadership studies certificate, Guerrier decided to pursue a master of arts in conflict transformation from 91����Ƶ’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP).��

As a graduate assistant at the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, he worked with its then-director and CJP professor, Carl Stauffer MA ’02 (conflict transformation), and conducted “humbling and eye-opening” field research on the impact of Fambul Tok International in promoting reconciliation in communities after an 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone (West Africa). 

“91����Ƶ was a place of healing for me,” Guerrier said. “My peace studies showed me how personal and interpersonal work affects peace in the world.” 

Guerrier worked with CJP Professor Emeritus Barry Hart MDiv ’78 to explore theories and practices of Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Healing (STAR), and in 2014, he started a chapter of Coming To The Table (), a racial healing and reconciliation organization aimed at Taking America Beyond the Legacy of Enslavement—a program that began at CJP. Guerrier later served on CTTT’s board of managers and became its youngest national president. 

Looking to the future

After graduating from 91����Ƶ in 2015, Guerrier worked on two novels, revising one to the point of exhaustion. 

“It was probably one of the most painful and loneliest experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. 

Guerrier began researching collaborative writing techniques in Hollywood and beyond, which led him to invite three writers to his home to create a story together. The successful session set Syllble in motion. 

Today, Syllble is enabling marginalized voices across the globe to conceive and tell the stories of their shared universes in order to disrupt modern-day inclinations toward disaster and doom. 

“Imagining radically hopeful futures allows us to replace the realities imposed by capitalism and technology and media with something that’s beautiful, nourishing, warm, and healing,” said Guerrier. “It is how we reclaim what it means to be human.”

Guerrier will share his story at 91����Ƶ TenTalks, held on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel during Homecoming 2025. For a full schedule of Homecoming events and activities, visit emu.edu/homecoming.

In the heartfelt ceremony, CJP faculty and staff members Dr. Gloria Rhodes, Amy Knorr, Dr. Joe Cole, and Dr. Catherine Barnes provided words of tribute for each graduate, expressing their feelings of love, pride, and honor. The following CJP Class of 2025 graduates were recognized:

Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation

Réka Bordás-Simon, Nyíregyháza, Hungary

Jess Cochran, Charlottesville, Virginia

Susan Hochstedler, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

Dorothy Maru, Eldoret, Kenya

Maybree Spilsbury, Mesa, Arizona

Getachew Temare, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation

Megan Carnice, Quantico, Virginia

Karen Chamblee, Weyers Cave, Virginia

Master of Arts in Restorative Justice

Ann Dye, Blacksburg, Virginia

Graduate Certificate in Restorative Justice

Sydney Butler, Baltimore

Jim Cole, Lebanon, Ohio

Abigail Stockman, Craftsbury Common, Vermont

Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership

Tyler Carnahan, Broadway, Virginia

Three graduates shared how their time and experiences at CJP transformed them.

Ann Dye ’25 said that being at CJP has been a life-changing experience. She recounted joining a conflict transformation course—her first college class in nearly 30 years—and feeling fear, anxiety, and discomfort. “But all throughout that first semester, I was held in patient kindness by professors who taught in a way I had never experienced before,” she said. “They engaged with curiosity, compassion, and presence, sitting with my own—and maybe a few others’—fear and confusion. They actually demonstrated the peacebuilding skills they were teaching, engaging all of us with dignity, creativity, and adaptability.” 

When she began to explore the field of restorative justice, based on a professor’s recommendation, she said “it felt like finding the half of my life that had been missing.”

Susan Hochstedler ’25 began taking electives at CJP for her seminary degree program. At the time, she said, she was exhausted. She had been leading a church community through the COVID-19 pandemic and also felt weighed down by family issues and the increasing division in society. “I came to CJP because I wasn’t sure what else to do,” she said. “But I stayed because of the knowledge and the passion, the brokenness and the authenticity, and the exquisite beauty of this peacebuilding community.”

When Dorothy Maru ’25 lost her grandmother three months after arriving at 91����Ƶ, her entire world crumbled and she spent several months trying to make sense of it all. It wasn’t until she took a class with CJP Professor Dr. Paula Ditzel Facci that she began to see that, in the midst of her grief, there was tremendous growth. Her grandmother was “a woman of delusional faith,” Maru said, who believed in things that didn’t make much sense, “but because of how she believed in me, I had no choice but to believe in myself, too.”

“To the Class of 2025, let us go out into the world with a conviction that we are capable of creating a better world,” Maru said. “Let us apply what John Paul Lederach calls The Moral Imagination, to imagine that which doesn’t yet exist, to be delusional enough to believe that it is possible. It’s possible to demand justice, to choose peace, to create space for every voice.”

The ceremony featured a graduate slideshow created by CJP student Hannah Gilman. Katie Mansfield, CJP affiliate faculty member, opened the event with drumming. Maybree Spilsbury ’25 performed “The Swan” on cello, accompanied by Julie Spilsbury on piano. Kory Schaeffer, director of programs at CJP, delivered welcome remarks. CJP students Tabitha Roberts and Josiah Ludwick delivered the student blessings, and CJP affiliate faculty member Dr. Catherine Barnes concluded the celebration with a graduate sending.

Makinto has pretty much done it all. The Liberian-German musician, storyteller, educator, worship leader, Mennonite pastor, activist—honestly, there are too many descriptors for him to name here—has played piano for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and for Nelson Mandela in Germany. He’s traveled the world extensively, performing at venues such as Madison Square Garden in New York, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and for a crowd of 200,000 at Brazil’s largest soccer stadium. His humanitarian work in Africa and recognition as an international recording artist earned him the title of Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Development for an of the United Nations. 

Just about the only thing he hasn’t done is attend a four-year college. He simply never had time for it during his four decades as a global performer. Thanks to the flexibility of 91����Ƶ’s online and hybrid courses as well as the generosity of donors through the seminary scholarship, can now check that item off his list. 

The single-named polymath is a second-semester graduate student at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, pursuing a master’s degree in Christian leadership. His wife, Mukarabe, first pulled him into the orbit of 91����Ƶ, enrolling at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at the start of last year. 

“It would be impossible for us to finance two degrees if it weren’t for the largesse of the donors through the seminary scholarship,” Makinto said. “We’re very grateful for that.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he earned a two-year associate’s degree. Along with his 15 years as a pastor, he had enough equivalent experience to enroll at the seminary. “It’s great that I’m able to participate in a master’s program based not just on academic history but also on life history,” he said.

One of his earliest impressions of 91����Ƶ came during a visit to campus in November 2023 for the annual Music Gala Concert. Makinto, the featured performer of the night, put on a dazzling show as he played the djembe, kalimba, flute and piano. That evening, after touring the campus and meeting a great number of people, Makinto said he and his wife “resonated really well with 91����Ƶ.”

“We felt at home here,” said Makinto. “Everyone felt like family.”

The couple, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1999, lead , a nonprofit dedicated to giving hope and restoring dignity to Burundian refugees and equipping them to participate in the transformation of African communities. The word “Amahoro” comes from the Kirundi (Burundian) expression for peace that conveys blessings, well-being and fullness of life. The organization is a Conference-Related Ministry of Mosaic Mennonite Conference.

Makinto said that he’s working on bringing an initiative called “Amahoro Drumming for Peace” to 91����Ƶ. The program would bring people from diverse backgrounds together to make music and reflect on community.

He said that he’s excited to become part of 91����Ƶ’s global network of partners and alumni to contribute to and collaborate on peace initiatives. “We can build something together,” he said.

Makinto and Mukarabe live in Harrisonburg with their son Joël, the youngest of their six children. Makinto can often be found at Martin Chapel on Tuesday mornings leading worship music with a bright smile and joyful spirit. He will perform as a guest artist at Love, Joy & Peace: A Choral Celebration! on Friday, March 14, at Lehman Auditorium. The concert will bring together three choirs and showcase a piano collaboration between Makinto and Dr. David Berry, director of the music program at 91����Ƶ. 

Your generous support helps students like Makinto pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Join us for the 9th annual Lov91����Ƶ Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future 91����Ƶ students. Together, we can help write 91����Ƶ’s next chapter. 

Read the previous profiles in our A Royal Tale series:

Erin Campbell MA ‘22 (conflict transformation) is using the skills she acquired from 91����Ƶ’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) to heal harms in her community.

Campbell is co-director of (CVCJ). One of CVCJ’s programs is a partnership with the Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices in Charlottesville and Albemarle County and public defender’s office to divert criminal cases away from the courts and into a restorative justice process. CVCJ offers a way for people to make amends directly to those they have harmed as an alternative to prosecution.

Rather than focus on punishment, restorative justice (RJ) programs like CVCJ emphasize healing and safety. Trained facilitators with the nonprofit work with willing participants—those responsible for harm, those who were harmed, and anyone else affected—to share their experiences, acknowledge the harm done, and agree on a resolution to repair it. Proponents of RJ say the process encourages trust and accountability, supports the needs of those who were harmed, and results in lower recidivism rates than the traditional legal system.

“Instead of isolating people in jail or through a sterile criminal legal process, we’re connecting people to empathetic facilitators who treat everyone with dignity and who center the needs of the harmed person and the safety of the community,” Campbell said.

Since its start in 2022, CVCJ has successfully resolved about 35 incidents of harm. These include assault and battery, embezzlement, racialized vandalism, hit-and-run, and a DUI, among other felony and misdemeanor charges.

During her third year at 91����Ƶ, as she searched for a practicum, Campbell learned about an RJ pilot program beginning to take shape in nearby Charlottesville. The pilot, which would later become CVCJ, sprung from a collaboration between Albemarle County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Neal MA ‘11, Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania, and the at CJP. Tarek Maassarani, an RJ practitioner and visiting professor at CJP, served as an adviser to the project.

Campbell started her practicum with the program in January 2022, just as it launched. The first cohort of facilitators received training in RJ practices over the next two months, guided by the experts at CJP, and began taking their first cases that spring.

Campbell said CVCJ is different from other diversion programs in ensuring that its services are offered at no cost and that its facilitators reflect the gender, race and age of participants whenever they can. The facilitators are also paid more than a living wage, she added.

“Many diversion programs only use volunteer facilitators, which typically means a select demographic of people… generally older, white, retired folks,” Campbell said. “Plenty of those folks make great facilitators, but the demographic doesn’t represent the diversity of participants we actually service.”

Each month, CVCJ adds one to two new cases, including noncriminal situations such as a conflict between teachers in a school or a harm that those involved in would rather not report to police. CVCJ is also starting to offer training in restorative practices to schools, organizations, and individuals.

“As we know, restorative justice moves at the speed of trust,” Campbell said. “We’re lucky to have the partners we have in the public defender’s office and in both Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices. Even with that, turning around a criminal legal system that’s existed for a couple hundred years is like turning around an ocean liner. Luckily, we’re patient people.”

Learn more about CVCJ at .

Family members, friends, faculty and guests gathered at Martin Chapel to recognize the 33 graduates of CJP programs — many of whom crossed continents to attend 91����Ƶ — and celebrate their achievements. 

The 2024 grads represent six countries — Japan, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, South Sudan, Ethiopia — and 14 states. 

David Brubaker, dean of the school of social sciences and professions, who is retiring this year, opened the ceremony by sharing the three core principles of CJP culture he’s learned in his decades with the program. Those principles are that “relationships matter,” that “our students are colleagues masquerading as students,” and the importance of developing theories of change.

Three CJP 2024 graduates shared reflections of their time in the program.

Kory Schaeffer, an MA in conflict transformation graduate, who also spoke at Lavender Graduation, invited the crowd gathered at Martin Chapel to imagine the world as a tangle of threads. Imagine each person leaving a trail of thread behind them with each step and each breath, he instructed, that intersects with everyone and everything they encounter. 

“Our earth is a tightly woven ball of yarn with layers 7,000 miles deep,” he said. “Amongst this giant ball of thread are bright streaks of color, the threads of peacebuilders, lovers, dreamers and healers. Weaving bright and bold and beautiful light into our threads of connection, we are remarkably beautiful people.”

Wima Ranasinghe, who traveled from Sri Lanka to earn an MA in conflict transformation, recounted meeting her classmates — her “fellow travelers” — in August 2022 for the first time. Since that first meeting, she said, they’ve enjoyed parties, sunset walks, clothing swaps, bounce house fun, hikes, coffee hours, movie nights, ping pong tournaments and basketball games together. 

“Over the last 21 months, we all have become each other’s study buddies, walking buddies, weeping buddies and, sometimes, drinking buddies,” Ranasinghe said. 

She expressed gratitude for her friends and to the many teachers, practitioners and supporters in CJP.

“We’ve undergone a process of learning, unlearning, and relearning, which has allowed us to see perspectives from multiple dimensions, and still, I feel it’s only a start,” she said.

Sharon McKenna, an MA in transformational leadership graduate, spoke about the difference between transformational and transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is about cost benefit, she explained, while transformational leadership is about motivation and inspiration.

“I got a bunch of prior degrees, and every one of them was transactional,” she said. “I paid for a class, I got a class. That’s not what I’ve experienced here at CJP. CJP has been truly transformational for me.”

CJP Class of 2024 Graduates

Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation
Moe Arakawa, Tochigi, Japan
Jessica Chisholm, Collinsville, Mississippi
Zua Companhia, Beira, Mozambique
Katie Corbit, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Shashi De Silva, Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka
Anna Dovbyk, Kyiv, Ukraine
Yolanda Emedi, Des Moines, Iowa
Olivia Hazelton, Philomath, Oregon
Mahboube Hosseinzadeh, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Stella Kayenga, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Felix Kayiranga, Epworth, Iowa
Ishtiaq Khan, Rockingham, Virginia
Philip Krabill, Elkhart, Indiana
David Kuany, Juba, South Sudan
Onyx Myanda, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Wima Ranasinghe, Narammala, Sri Lanka
Kory Schaeffer, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Selena Sherzad, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation
Cameron Carter, Ashland, Virginia

Master of Arts in Restorative Justice
Erin Bruemmer, Cincinnati, Ohio
Elham Khairi, Richmond, Virginia
Tibby Miller, Laramie, Wyoming
Mary Moll, White Salmon, Washington

Graduate Certificate in Restorative Justice
Debra Budiani-Saberi, Cabin John, Maryland
Eyerusalem Korra, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership
Cindy Angela, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Becky Gochnauer, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Saskia Keeley, New York, New York
Luke Litwiller, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Sharon McKenna, Atlanta, Georgia
Amber Oda, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Joshua Sperry, Berkeley, California
DeMointé Wesley, Houston, Texas

CJP faculty and staff members Gloria Rhodes, Paula Ditzel Facci, Amy Knorr, Catherine Barnes, Alena Yoder and Vernon Jantzi provided the positive affirmations to the graduates.

Following the graduate tributes, speakers recognized three faculty and staff members who will be departing 91����Ƶ: David Brubaker, Lindsay Martin and Vernon Jantzi.

The event featured a graduate slideshow prepared by CJP student Maybree Spilsbury with music composed by 2024 CJP alumnus Luke Litwiller; musical performances from Rodrigue Makelele MA ‘20 (conflict resolution) and 2024 CJP alumnus Zua Companhia on drums and from 2024 CJP alumnus Philip Krabill, who sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”; and student blessings from CJP students Doro Maru and Spike Coleman.