MARCH 19, 2004
GREENSBORO, NC
Jerusalem women to speak of peace
Tim Scales
Staff Writer
T
hree women who have lived
through the hard reality of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will share
their varied experiences and their uni
fied hope for peace in a free presenta
tion on March 29.
Called "Jerusalem Women Speak,"
the talk offers people a chance to hear
a personal side of this long-lasting
struggle from women who have had
their lives shaped by the conflict.
"The conflict in the Middle-East is
important for so many reasons, from a
religious, political and human-rights
SLRP forum outlines planned changes at Guilford
Matt Goldman
Staff Writer
n front of a group of students, fac
ulty and staff, Guilford College
President Kent Chabotar provided the
community with an update on the sta
tus of the Strategic Long Range
Planning (SLRP) Committee's master
plan for the college. The forum took
place at 4 p.m. on March 2 in Bryan
Auditorium.
The presentation elaborated on a
February 13 press release. It also
served as an update on the current
progress of SLRP. Via Power Point,
Chabotar touched on the key issues
that the committee is addressing.
Guilford's core values, according to
Chabotar, were the basis for SLRP's
plan for the school's future.
Community, diversity, equality, excel
lence, integrity, justice, and steward
ship were all listed as important stan
dards for the school.
"Guilford aspires to be great every
where, but academics come first," said
Chabotar in reference to the core
value of excellence.
According to the press release,
"Becoming a recognized national
leader in offering a practical liberal
arts education and achieving distinc
tion and national recognition for excel
lence in specific academic programs
within the sphere of small liberal arts
perspective," said G-CRO member
Erin Burns. "People need to be edu
cated about these issues, especially in
light of the upcoming election."
The three women come from diverse
backgrounds, though all from the
same city. Nahla Assali is a
Palestinian Muslim and chair of
Project Loving Care, a child sponsor
ship program. Nuha Khoury is a
Palestinian Christian and Deputy
Director of the Dar al-Kalima Academy
in Jerusalem. She is actively involved
with Checkpoint Watch, a women's
human rights monitoring group. Michal
Sagi is an Israeli Jew.
Each woman has a unique story, but
all believe in the necessity of peace.
colleges" were strategic priorities
number one and two.
Making the college well known for
certain areas of academics is on the
agenda. However, the committee has
not yet decided which ones will be
highlighted. Chabotar posed some
questions to the audience concerning
the matter, asking, "What is Guilford
known for?
Are there
areas that are
currently pop
ular to invest
more time
and money
into?"
The size of
the college is
also an issue
Chabotar and
"We expect to increase
Guilford's size to 3,000
in the next five to ten
years."
~ President Kent Chabotar
the committee intend to address.
"We expect to increase Guilford's
size to 3,000 in the next five to ten
years," he said. Chabotar plans to
have a freshman class of 400 by the
upcoming fall semester, which would
set a new enrollment record for the
school.
Chabotar also discussed the possi
bility of implementing a new interdisci
plinary program in which a student is
required to pick a world problem and
get involved in helping to solve it in
order to graduate. He even touched
on the idea of graduate programs in
years to come.
NEWS
"We hope people take away an
understanding of the people behind
the statistics and news bytes, an
appreciation for the complexity of the
issue, and a bursting of stereotypes,"
said director of the Friends Center
Max Carter. "The sponsors of the
event hope that hearing from (people)
who have lived the conflict and contin
ue to strive for reconciliation will help
inform and inspire."
The tour is sponsored by Partners
for Peace, a national non-profit organ
ization whose mission is to bring about
a lasting peace for the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict. This is their sev
enth Jerusalem Women Speak tour
throughout the United States since
"Guilford is going to become a cen
ter for creative solutions," he said. "We
want students to leave with a potpour
ri of experiences in and out of the
classroom. A Guilford transcript is
more than just grades."
The preservation of the school's
Quaker values was another topic
Chabotar focused on during the
The president reminded the audience
that a college is a business and that
none of these changes were going to
happen without the necessary eco
nomic means.
"We can do none of this without the
money," he said.
Following the speech Chabotar
allowed time for questions from the
community. Many students were con
cerned with making sure that the
school was environmentally friendly
and avoiding corporate sponsors that
were morally questionable.
Committee member and Archdale
Hall Secretary Janet Wright was
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
pleased with the questions brought up
by the community.
"People really seemed to understand
what we were doing," she said. "I was
happy with their concerns, particularly
the issue concerning ethical procure
ment and making sure that corpora
tions agree with our moral standards."
Senior Theodore Fetter was also
optimistic about the forum.
"It was a hopeful presentation," he
said. "It seems that, in general, the
school is headed in a good direction."
Other issues brought up by the audi
ence ranged from making sure there
will be adequate housing for students
with the planned population increase
to the recent swell of part time faculty
and how that will affect student
teacher interaction.
Some students also felt that the
committee should address certain on
campus problems such as the contin
uing lack of emphasis on community
before any major plans get underway.
Chabotar and the committee hope to
have a more specific and clear-cut
five-to-ten-year plan by the end of the
semester.
Following more feedback from the
community and trustees, a final written
document will be brought to the board
by June.
"This plan will not please everyone,"
said Chabotar. "(But) I look forward to
the day that Harvard is the Guilford
College of New England."
forum.
He noted that it
was "important to
not try and be
everything (but
instead) be faith
ful to tradition,"
referring to the
maintaining the
school's strong
religious her
itage.
1998.
"The Jerusalem Women Speak tours
were designed from the very* begin
ning to bring the voices of women from
the Jerusalem area and from the two
national communities and three reli
gious groups directly to Americans in
their own home towns," says Partners
for Peace.
The event will take place at 7:3opm
on March 29 in the Founders Gallery .
It is co-sponsored by the Greensboro
Peace Coalition, campus ministry, G
CRO and the Peace and Conflict
Ctudies department.
For more information, contact Max
Carter at 316-2445 or mcarter@guil
ford.edu.
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