Jon Swartz Archives - 91��Ƶ News

Four earn inaugural Royal Award for Staff Performance (and coveted golden emus)

91��Ƶ communications — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:56:08 +0000

Who wouldn’t want to hug a trophy, pose for a commemorative photo, and put a golden emu on proud display in their office? Not that staff at 91��Ƶ, with an already outstanding work ethic, need any extra incentive to do their best…

But you know. Golden glittery emu. Enough said.

The first Royal Awards for Staff Performance, presented during fall semester 2020. The awardees are selected from nominations of staff or administrators who have shown exceptional performance, and/or gone above and beyond the regular focus of their work to improve 91��Ƶ.

The inaugural awardees for August/September were Shannon Dycus, dean of students, and Lauren Jefferson, director of communications.

Nominators offered these words of appreciation about these employees:

Shannon is innovative, imaginative, caring, and a force to reckon with. She has, among many other things, found ways to maintain safety and community, and encourage our students to commit to health and safety during a time of crisis and a national pandemic.

Lauren has been working intensely since the start of the pandemic, often putting in overtime, to make sure our messaging to the community about plans and changes is quick, accurate, informative, and helpful… AND she still helps keep up humor and morale in our department.

Awardees for November/December were Nancy Heisey, associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and Jon Swartz, director of residence life, student accountability, and restorative justice.

Nominators offered these words of appreciation:

Nancy ushered us through a promising accreditation visit by the Association of Theological Schools in mid-October. ATS’s initial feedback was positive, which is no small cause for celebration during this tenuous time in theological education. I cannot exaggerate the ways Nancy went above and beyond her administrative responsibilities to complete this accreditation process. She has completed a marathon and has done so with competence and contagious enthusiasm.

Jon works tirelessly to improve the 91��Ƶ experience for our residential students. Despite his extensive workload, he always engages each person who approaches him with empathy and good humor.

Congratulations to the winners. And also to those on the Royal Award committee for their work in appreciation of staff: Stephen Farrar, Lori Gant, Sarah Gant, Ericka Gingerich, Bill Goldberg, Marcia Myers, Jon Styer.

91��Ƶ faculty are eligible for the annual Excellence in Teaching Award. Read about 2020 honorees here.

CJP: A Look Back At 2019-20

91��Ƶ Communications — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 10:34:26 +0000

For a more streamlined read, note the following:

–links to each CJP program are omitted. To learn more about the specific programs named here, please visit the .

— a faculty or staff member’s title is listed once, on first reference. To learn more about individual faculty and staff members, visit the .

Our alumni are accomplished people and a wonderful resource, which is why we include a link to each personal profile on the . This information is provided and updated voluntarily.

September 2019

Talibah Aquil MA ’19 and Zoe Parakuo ’16 performing “Ghana, remember me …”

A class of 22 new graduate students begin their first semester of studies.
The new graduate students participate in CJP’s Grounding Day: an opportunity to begin to ground students in the history and current social, political, economic and environmental justice realities in Harrisonburg.
Fidele Ayu Lumeya MA ’00 returns to the Democratic Republic of Congo to direct the Congo Ubuntu Peacebuilding Center.
Talibah Aquil MA ’19 performs “Ghana, remember me…,” a multimedia production that sprung from her 2019 travels in Ghana as part of her capstone project on the themes of identity, race, trauma and healing.
Twenty-one participants join STAR 1 on campus with Lead Trainer Katie Mansfield and Ayman Kerols MA ’16.

October 2019

John E. Sharp, Tammy Krause MA ’99 and Darsheel Kaur MA ’17 were featured speakers during a special “CJP at 25” TenTalks during 91��Ƶ’s Homecoming and Family Weekend.

CJP’s 25th anniversary year kicks off with a “TenTalks” event at ��ѱ�’s Homecoming and Family Weekend featuring Tammy Krause MA ‘99, Darsheel Kaur MA ‘17, and John E. Sharp, father of Michael J. Sharp ’05.
Donna Minter, founder and executive director of the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute and STAR Trainer, is honored with the Melanie Greenberg U.S. Peacebuilding Award of Excellence.
Professor Johonna Turner, co-director of the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, gives the keynote address at a symposium on restorative justice hosted by the University of Richmond Public Interest Law Review. Attorney Brenda Waugh MA ’09 provides a talk on restorative lawyering and Suzanne Praill MA ’10, director of restorative justice at the Fairfield Center, contributes to a panel discussion.
In collaboration with , CJP hosts Community Criminal Justice Days conference, bringing together community stakeholders for discussions and planning around reducing incarceration and recidivism in the local area.
Howard Zehr, distinguished professor of restorative justice, is the featured speaker at the 2019 Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Lecture at George Mason University.

November 2019

Alena Yoder (left), program development associate, and Professor Emeritus Vernon Jantzi are pictured here in Mexico City with Elvia González del Pliego and Gloria Escobar with the host organization University Iberoamericana, and Carmen Magallón of WILPF-España. (Courtesy photo)

CJP co-sponsors a conference in Mexico City on the intersection of gender and peacebuilding: “Construcción de Paz con Perspectiva de Género” at the University Iberoamericana, a Jesuit-affiliated institution. Alena Yoder, CJP’s program development associate, was a panel moderator. Vernon Jantzi, emeritus professor, and Jayne Docherty, CJP executive director, presented papers.
STAR trainers facilitate a workshop for the Grand Canyon National Park’s Public Lands for all Inclusion Summit to explore principles of restorative justice, trauma awareness, resilience, and truth and reconciliation and how those principles might be applied in the organizations and the workplaces. Read about STAR’s ongoing relationship with the National Park Service.
Kajungu Mturi MA ‘18 facilitates a day of trauma and resilience training for ��ѱ�’s Intensive English Program staff and instructors.
Gilberto Pérez Jr. ’94 GC ’99, vice president for student life at Goshen College, wins his bid for a city council seat in Goshen, Indiana. He will be the first Latino council member in a city that is 33-34% Latino.
A Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice features multiple speakers on engaging communities of faith in promoting restorative justice, along with specific avenues and resources for collaborating with Catholic parishes and ministries.
Eighteen people participate in STAR 2 with Katie Mansfield and Lisa Collins.

December 2019

David Nyiringabo ’20 and Dawn Curtis-Thames ’20.

Katie Mansfield and Jon Swartz MA ‘14 facilitate three days of STAR-based training for the Department of the Interior’s Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution, including Sigal Shoham MA ’13.
91��Ƶ recognizes Dawn Curtis-Thames MA ’20 and David Nyiringabo MA ’20, then second-year CJP students, for their outstanding contributions to CJP and the larger university community. Read about their practicum studies.

January 2020

Professor Emeritus Barry Hart was the first featured guest of the Peacebuilder podcast.

Wayne Marriott MA ’18, a conflict coach and mediator based in Christchurch, New Zealand, receives the Resolution Institute’s 2019 Michael Klug Award for his support to the local community after the mosque shootings there last year.
The 10-episode Peacebuilder podcast launches, featuring faculty and staff members reflecting on the program’s history and their own peacebuilding work.
Twenty-two people, including 11 CJP MA students, participate in STAR 1 on campus with Katie Mansfield and Johonna Turner.

February 2020

Guest speaker Chief Kenneth Branham of the Monacan Nation at 2020 SPI Community in Martin Chapel.

The fifth annual SPI Community Day welcomes about 100 participants to get a taste of Summer Peacebuilding Institute classes and hear from speakers on racial justice, including Chief Kenneth Branham of the Monacan nation and Frank Dukes, a professor at the University of Virginia.
Professor Emeritus Barry Hart is the keynote speaker at a seminar organized by Initiatives of Change Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, discussing the role restorative justice could play in restoring and healing wounded people to create a more just society.
The Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice hosts a webinar on Equal Justice USA’s approach to the relationship between community and police in Newark, N.J., and how trauma-informed responses to violence that are community-driven can reduce harm for those most vulnerable and marginalized.
Ten people join Kajungu Mturi MA ‘18 and Katie Mansfield at a STAR 1 training on campus.
Katie Mansfield presents on a panel titled “Healing and Resilience: Taking a trauma-informed approach to delivering assistance” sponsored by the Peace and Security Workgroup of the Society for International Development-Washington Chapter.

March 2020

The view from the computer of Paulette Moore, a former 91��Ƶ visual and communication arts professor and one of the participants in a Dancing Resilience session led by Katie Mansfield.

CJP staff and faculty start working remotely and moving academic classes online due to COVID-19.
STAR provides three days of training for the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The 25th Anniversary Celebration, planned for the summer, is postponed for a year. The new dates are June 4-6, 2021. Alicia Garza, John Paul Lederach and sujatha baliga are among the scheduled speakers who plan to attend.
Katie Mansfield launches the virtual community Dancing Resilience, through which participants all over the world meet via video conference multiple times a day to dance together.
The Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice hosts a virtual book launch for (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020), by Lindsey Pointer, Kathleen McGoey, and Haley Farrar.

April 2020

Cole Parke MA ’12 and Emmanuel Bombande MA ’02.

SPI announces its move to an all-online format.
Donors help to meet two $35,000 matching grants set up by two couples and gave generously during Lov91��Ƶ Day in honor of CJP’s 25th anniversary.
Cole Parke MA ’12 and Emmanuel Bombande MA ’02 are named as 2020 Peacebuilder of the Year honorees.
STAR releases the Care “Together” video series: conversations between Katie Mansfield, STAR trainers and practitioners.

May 2020

Summer Peacebuilding Institute participants from the United Kingdom and Jamaica who were able to attend because of the virtual format. From left: Christine Broad, with the Church of England’s Diocese of Chester, United Kingdom; Dillion Sinclair, a primary school guidance counselor and also co-leader, with his wife Esther, of Waterloo Mennonite Church in Kingston, Jamaica; and Jenny Bridgman, also with the Diocese of Chester.

SPI 2020 marks the 26th year of gathering peacebuilders for mutual learning and support – online this year using video conferencing and other digital tools. Eleven courses are offered to more than 180 people across 60% of the world’s time zones. Read general news coverage here, and more specific articles about creating community online and the digital peacebuilding class.
Sixteen CJP graduates representing nine countries receive their degrees.
Johonna Turner is one of the three faculty presented with 91��Ƶ’s annual Excellence in Teaching Awards.
Christine Kindler MA ’17 receives the Berlin Fellowship from Humanity in Action.
The new Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership is launched earlier than expected as CJP moves online. The degree with online, hybrid and residential options for working professionals includes courses in business and leadership and will continue to add courses from other programs at 91��Ƶ as electives.

June 2020

Carolyn Yoder, who was co-founder of STAR, recently revised The Little Book of Trauma Healing. Here, she poses with some of the book’s various translations.

SkyHorse Publishing releases a new edition of Carolyn Yoder‘s Little Book of Trauma Healing.
STAR provides a webinar for Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s Service Coordinators and Case Managers on trauma and resilience.

July 2020

Professor Johonna Turner’s chapter in Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities, titled “Creating Safety for Ourselves,” details the formation and principles of the transformative justice and community accountability movement. (Photo by Jon Styer)

STAR trains campus ministry professionals at the National Association of Campus Ministers virtual conference.
An advisory group of STAR trainers and practitioners work with Katie Mansfield to recreate STAR for online delivery. The group includes Donna Minter, Crixell Shell, Ram Bhagat GC ’19, Lisa Collins, Meenakshi Chhabra, and Johonna Turner. Elaine Zook Barge MA ’03, Vernon Jantzi, and Carolyn Yoder provide additional input and insight.
STAR announces registration for STAR online.
Johonna Turner contributes a chapter to Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities (Living Justice Press, 2020), a collection of 18 essays penned by practitioners and scholars of color.

August 2020

STAR wraps up four webinars for National Park Service staff.
CJP welcomes 30 new students for orientation. This includes nine students in the new MA in Transformational Leadership program, with online, hybrid and residential options.
Planning continues for the CJP “25+1” anniversary celebration.

Student activism presents learning opportunities for all, says faculty/staff conference keynote

Lauren Jefferson — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 16:02:24 +0000

Professor offered a message of promise during his keynote address “Another University Is Possible” at 91��Ƶ’s annual fall faculty and staff conference: Embrace students as visionaries – and their activism as valuable learning opportunities – because they can be a source of transformation.

A campus culture that “respects students’ right to protest” – that nurtures both students and the social movements they create, and embraces student activism as being the result of new knowledge at the core of liberation – benefits the entire community, said Hinojosa, a professor of history at Texas A & M. In their activism, students think critically, lead outside the classroom, practice civic engagement, and develop a greater sense of social responsibility.

Felipe Hinojosa, professor of history at Texas A & M, speaks about student activism and response when a white supremacist spoke on the campus. (Photo by Macson McGuigan)

Hinojosa’s August 14 address on the conference theme of “Being or Becoming a Third Way University” began the two-day event’s broader discussions around campus engagement, civic collaboration and diversity and inclusion, goals that are articulated in the university’s strategic plan.

“Dr. Hinojosa’s address was a helpful invitation as we anticipate the return of students to campus,” said Provost Fred Kniss. “Cultivating students’ abilities to engage with the world is central to our mission, and as an institution we can also learn from their desires for change.”

Conferences an annual tradition

��ѱ�’s faculty-staff conferences bookend each academic year, with the fall event providing gathering in fellowship and renewal of the community’s common purpose and goals.

Braydon Hoover, director of development and annual giving and frequent conference emcee, pointed out that common vision in his welcome: “We’re all here for the exact same purpose … to prepare every single one of our students to distinctively serve and lead in a global context,” he said. “Whether you coach on the grass or you cut it, whether you teach 18-year-olds or students a little older, whether you work remotely or right here on campus, whether you took a break this summer or work diligently all year round, and even whether you hail from the titular religious tradition or another completely different, we – all of us – are 91��Ƶ.”

The event included workshop sessions, worship and fellowship opportunities, and what’s become an annual favorite, “Storytelling,” featuring members of the campus community sharing about their journeys to, towards or within the 91��Ƶ community. Fall storytellers included professors Johonna Turner and Esther Tian; Jasmine Hardesty, director of development and planned giving; and Scott Barge, vice president of institutional effectiveness.

The event was also a forum for announcements about the upcoming academic year, including the observance of MLK Day with extensive service and learning opportunities replacing scheduled classes.

Keynote speaker calls for empowering synergy

Hinojosa knows what it means to envision a different university. While a student at Fresno Pacific University in California, he joined student movements to encourage the hiring of more diverse faculty and expansion of the curriculum and academic programs.

“How could a university in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, surrounded by a large Latinx population and located in an area that gave birth to the greatest and most successful farm workers civil rights movement, not teach a course on this?” he said.

The synergy between his own student activism and intellectual engagement – the “growth of political consciousness and understanding of history,” his own and his people’s – was both personally empowering and beneficial to the campus community.

Now a tenured professor of history at Texas A&M University, Hinojosa also directs the history department’s undergraduate studies and is co-founder and co-director of the Latina/o Studies Working Group sponsored by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research.

Sharing his pedagogical philosophy that asks “So what? Now what?” with his students in courses about social movements, Latinx history, gender, comparative race and ethnicity, Hinojosa has become a resource, guide and mentor to diverse student activists.

This role – and the work of activism itself – is “messy” and “chaotic,” but “more important than ever,” he said.

In considering the role of the “third way university,” Hinojosa noted the history of socially progressive Christians. While “distorted forms of Christianity got the most play,” they quietly went to work in communities around the world.

“A third way university must build on this radical tradition,” he said.

In response to a question from Director of Multicultural Services Celeste Thomas, Hinojosa elaborated on additional ways of supporting black and brown students in the predominantly white university setting: listening to the voices and perspectives of marginalized students, hiring diverse and/or culturally competent faculty and staff, providing safe community spaces for these students, and prioritizing issues and the history of diverse communities in curriculum and academic programs.

Beyond the keynote

WCSC program assistant Karlyn Gehring presents during 2018 faculty and staff conference. (Photo by Andrew Strack)

Afternoon breakout sessions offered faculty and staff opportunities to learn more about distinctive programs that link to core values of ��ѱ�’s mission and vision.

Various restorative justice initiatives and programs were highlighted in a special session hosted by professors Johonna Turner and Carl Stauffer, who co-direct the housed in the . Jon Swartz, associate dean of students, talked about restorative justice as it relates to the campus community and highlighted the growth, and growing interest, in RJ-related trainings. Meg Sanders, director of ��ѱ�’s Graduate Teacher Education program, spoke about the new master’s degree and graduate certificate in restorative justice, as well as the integration of RJ principles and practices into professional training courses offered by the university.

Director Kimberly Schmidt presented on the , ��ѱ�’s Washington D.C.-based program offering cross-cultural urban studies, internship and community living experience. She was joined by Associate Director Ryan Good and Program Assistant Karlyn Gehring.

Doug Graber Neufeld presented on the , a collaborative initiative of 91��Ƶ, Goshen College and Mennonite Central Committee to lead Anabaptist efforts to respond to the challenges of climate change. Neufeld, a biology professor at 91��Ƶ, directs the center.

91��Ƶ president appoints ‘Action Plan’ Steering Committee

91��Ƶ communications staff — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:23:57 +0000

President Susan Schultz Huxman launched an Action Plan Steering Committee Jan. 26 at 91��Ƶ to continue to ensure that the university is meeting federal regulations and implementing best practices to prevent and respond to allegations of sexual misconduct.

The appointment of the steering committee is the first of four actions implemented by Huxman in response to the Board of Trustee mandates after receiving the D. Stafford and Associates .

In addition to the work of the steering committee, Huxman announced three other actions to address best practices in the education and prevention of sexual misconduct on campus: development of a full-scale Title IX training program for faculty, staff and students; the implementation of a campus climate survey; and a review of the effectiveness of ��ѱ�’s Title IX coordinator position, as recommended by DSA.

The DSA report found that 91��Ƶ has “extensive and detailed policies” addressing sexual discrimination, but these policies are found in disparate places; their recommendation was to create one comprehensive institutional policy.

“We are eager to move forward,” Huxman said. “I was pleased by the focus and commitment at our first meeting. This group of full-time 91��Ƶ employees collectively has the requisite special expertise in all facets of education around sexual violence and discrimination. I have full confidence that this committee will prepare a report that takes us beyond compliance, one that helps us to live into our mission and our Anabaptist values of peace and reconciliation.”

Board chair Kay Nussbaum expressed appreciation for the ongoing work of Huxman and the administration, as well as for the new steering committee.

“This work is vital in strengthening ��ѱ�’s capacity to prevent sexual violence, effectively respond to allegations, and create a safe environment for our campus community,” she said. “We are grateful to move forward on this agenda with intentional action and focused leadership.”

Committee begins work on new Title IX policy

Huxman has named six members to the steering committee. By June 2017, this committee will have proposed a comprehensive new model for ��ѱ�’s Title IX policy.

To create this model, the committee is charged with reviewing DSA’s Title IX policy recommendations, as well as those recommendations for best practices addressing sexual violence collected by a fall 2016 task force.

, director of counseling services, chaired a key 91��Ƶ task force that met in the fall and is also a member of the steering committee.

, the new Title IX coordinator, will chair the steering committee. Other members include , director of human resources and former Title IX coordinator; , co-director of Multicultural Student Services; , director of residence life, student accountability and restorative justice; and , nursing professor and current chair of the committee that hears and adjudicates Title IX hearings.

Development of Title IX training

Another action requires the design of a full-scale Title IX training program for the board, faculty, staff and students. Kniss will design the program and present it to the board, with cost estimates, a timetable and a plan of implementation for the next academic year (2017-18).

“The safety of ��ѱ�’s community has been one of my primary concerns as director of health services and continues in this new capacity as Title IX coordinator,” said Kniss, from Orlando, Florida, where she is attending a four-day Title IX training certification conference. “The role integrates my experiences of more than 30 years in the medical field as well as 14 years in a law firm as a legal nurse consultant.”

Campus climate survey

A campus climate survey will be developed by the director of institutional research and effectiveness, , and presented to the board for approval at its June 2017 meeting.

The periodic survey will poll students, faculty and staff regarding their knowledge of racial and sexual discrimination or harassment, sexual assault/violence or any experiences with sexual/racial discrimination while attending or working at 91��Ƶ. The survey will also assess awareness of ��ѱ�’s Title IX policies and procedures.

Review of Title IX coordinator

The action plan also includes review of the new Title IX coordinator position, completed by the president in consultation with the vice president of finance and human resources.

A summary of recent campus events related to healthy sexuality and institutional harms and healing

Here are some of the activities that have taken place on campus in the past six months related to the topic of raising awareness and educating students about sexual misconduct issues:

In fall 2016 91��Ƶ sponsored a Best Practices on Addressing Sexual Violence Task Force.
91��Ƶ hired a dedicated Title IX coordinator.
Four staff persons have received formal training in carrying out Title IX sexual assault investigations.
The Student Life Division integrated bystander training into orientation and first-year activities.
Students in the teaching, ministry and healthy sexuality class and the introduction to youth ministry class participated in a half-day sexual abuse prevention training provided by The Collins Center. [This is the fourth year the training has been offered.]
‘Conversations on Sexual Violence’ symposium, March 2016, aimed to nurture community-building and resilience, 2016:
A series of chapel addresses including: Sex and Millenials: #NewScripts, by Carolyn Stauffer, Oct. 5, 2016 (; Faithful Sexuality in an Age of Porn, by Ken L. Nafziger, vice president for student life and dean of students, Oct. 28, 2016 (; Service of Lament for Sexual Abuse, with Professor Jerry Holsopple, Nov. 9, 2016 (; Stumbling In The Darkness (Take Back The Night Seminary Chapel) by Charlie Tinsley, Nov. 15, 2016. (.
Symposium and lecture by Catholic victims’ advocate Tom Doyle which focused on institutional harms and healing, Nov. 15, 2016:
Student-planned Take Back the Night events which focused campus attention on sexual violence and victims, Nov. 22, 2016:

Scheduled for Summer Peacebuilding Institute, 2017

Professor Carolyn Stauffer

Course description: Incidents of sexual wrongdoing damage institutions in addition to injuring individuals. When relationships are ruptured by sexual misconduct, institutions have a responsibility to repair the harms done, address breaches of conduct, and work towards prevention. This course investigates the forms that sexual harms can take and provides participants with the knowledge, skills and tools to build more preventative and restorative organizational environments. View more information.

Jonathan Swartz named first director of residence life, student accountability and restorative justice

Lauren Jefferson — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 13:26:44 +0000

When Jonathan Swartz thinks of residence life at 91��Ƶ (91��Ƶ), he thinks of the idea behind home, a space from which and in which students learn, grow and transform. But he also thinks of neighbors.

“In order for homes—our residence halls— here at 91��Ƶ to become communities, we have to have neighbors,” he says. “We have to ask the question, ‘How are we, together?’ What do we make and create together through our interactions and relationships?”

Swartz has been named to a new position at 91��Ƶ in which he’ll help to grow this vision: as of Jan. 3, he is the campus’s first director of residence life, student accountability and restorative justice — supporting nine employees, approximately 35-40 student employees and the 650 students who live in campus residence halls.

Jonathan Swartz talks with Bernadette Griffith, administrative assistant in the Student Life Division at 91��Ƶ.

The new role is responsible for “developing and maintaining residential learning communities that provide a safe, secure, and comfortable housing and residence life environment centered around a campus culture sustained by restorative justice practices,” according to , vice president for enrollment and student life.

“This new role more formally embeds the idea of a restorative community into our housing and student accountability functions,” Smucker says. “It is a great example of integration between the research and learnings on the academic side of the community with practice on the student life side. In this way we strive to be an exemplar.”

91��Ƶ influential in restorative justice field

91��Ƶ is known both nationally and globally for its work in restorative justice. In 2016, 91��Ƶ’s began the in restorative justice in North America. The continues the legacy of Emeritus Professor , widely considered the “grandfather of restorative justice.” Since Zehr and others first developed the concept in 1970s, restorative justice has expanded from criminal justice venues into diverse settings, including university life, as a way of handling situations when harm has been done.

Instead of punitive measures that seek to attribute blame and punishment, restorative justice, commonly referred to as RJ, asks offenders to understand the effect of their actions on others and to take responsibility in a way that meets the needs of the victims. It has been implemented with wide success in K-12 education and higher education environments.

Expertise in restorative justice

Swartz is well-equipped to both implement and educate about restorative practices in a Christian higher education community. In 2014, he earned both a Master of Divinity degree at and a master’s in conflict transformation at the , while serving as a campus ministries intern and restorative justice facilitator and assistant residence director.

He then became the campus’s first restorative justice coordinator, focusing primarily on student support and accountability. Along with providing training, coaching and mediation, he spent a year researching the student conduct response system at 91��Ƶ. The input and data resulted in a 2015 assessment and recommendations. In fall of 2015, he was named assistant director of University Accord. In addition, he has served as an adjunct professor in the , and has also guest lectured in graduate and undergraduate courses in restorative justice.

Swartz’s work with residence life has roots in his personal experience as a resident assistant at Bethel College (Indiana), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. There, Swartz learned that “caring presence is perhaps the most important gift that students can provide each other,” he said. “Most of us really do want to connect deeply with at least one or two people, and student leaders are often well-positioned to make those connections.”

He took that student leadership experience, which he says was “restorative” before he knew what the term meant, into his professional life. Now he works to help other students understand the same principles of care and presence in the residential environment: “balancing support and accountability in order to recognize the harms that happen all around us, name the harms, and then work to empower healing and transformation for the sake of communities that truly care for each other and can offer hope to the world around us.”

Communities, he reiterates, are comprised of “homes and �Ա𾱲��ǰ��.”

91��Ƶ faculty, staff and Team Accord students attend restorative justice training together

Harrison Horst and Lauren Jefferson — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 14:11:32 +0000

At a recent conference in New York, 91��Ƶ students found themselves in a unique position as participant-representatives. They were the only students among the 30 participants at the “Training In Restorative Justice for College Student Misconduct and Residential Life,” held April 11-13 at Skidmore College.

Joining them were student conduct professionals, Title IX coordinators, victim/survivor advocates, as well as faculty from 14 different colleges/universities.

“I was humbled by the wisdom and different perspectives that were brought from faculty and staff from other universities to this training,” said sophomore Emma Petersheim. “It was extremely meaningful to be there as one of four students at the training because we were able to get feedback from experienced adults who have worked with students for many years as victim’s advocates.”

Hosted by Skidmore College sociology professor and Little Book author David Karp, the training included three eight-hour days of facilitation work, group engagement, and roleplaying. Karp is the author of The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Colleges and Universities: Repairing Harm and Rebuilding Trust in Response to Student Misconduct. [The has strong ties to ��ѱ�’s .]

Petersheim, along with fellow sophomores Katrina Poplett and Meg Greene and first-year Noah Haglund, are currently taking a course on restorative justice (also known as RJ) and trauma awareness, taught by Professor , who traveled with the group. , restorative justice coordinator at 91��Ƶ and , associate director at the , also participated.

“The other colleges represented seemed to be very impressed by the engagement of the 91��Ƶ students,” said Poplett. “Most of the other people there worked in the conduct offices or in administrative positions. They were all somehow related to conduct or sexual violence offenders at colleges.”

Among the skills practiced was the use of conferencing and circles to address student misconduct. Four experts from New York and Pennsylvania helped lead the training.

“My hope is that from this experience I can be a resource at 91��Ƶ to help cultivate hard conversations that need to happen,” said Petersheim. “I hope to use this learning experience as a resource going forward within University Accord.”

, the campus facilitation and mediation group, has recently sponsored the creation of the student-led Team Accord. Team Accord, made up of graduate and undergraduate students, seeks to encourage education, training and facilitation of restorative justice within the 91��Ƶ community. Poplett is a member of Team Accord and her three fellow students plan to join next year.

“At 91��Ƶ, we talk about RJ so often that people have become cynical and make fun of it,” said Poplett. “I think it’s vital for students be educated, to get engaged in RJ, and to become facilitators. In addition, it’s very valuable to have students working with Jon [Swartz] so that it’s not just him working on restorative justice. It makes it a lot easier for him to do his job well.”

On campus, when harm is done, Swartz says that many times the initial questions are “Who did it? And what do they deserve?”

“These kinds of questions put the focus on “offenders” only, which can often silence the voices of those who were impacted,” said Swartz, who wants to “move the conversation to asking questions like ‘Who has been impacted? What will those most impacted/harmed need? How can those needs be met? Who is responsible to meet those needs? What if justice looked more like healing? What would a process to support that look like?’”

Attending such trainings helps professionals and students, those most affected by the process, see that similar questions are being asked on other university and college campuses.

Portions of this article were first published in the April 14, 2016, issue of The Weather Vane.

Jon Swartz Archives - 91����Ƶ News