Lama Tseta leads URI’s Peace Day 2021 on the Quad. PHOTO CREDIT: James Singer
The University of Rhode Island’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace held an event on the Quad in honor of International Peace Day to promote non-violence throughout the community.
The event, held Sept. 21, included flags from different countries and the artwork of students who attended with banners and tents lining the Quad for the event. The event also incorporated a traditional Tibetan dance by members of the Tibetan American Association of Connecticut.
Thupten Thendar, a specialist for the Center for Non-violence and Peace, said that this event was held to raise awareness for the nonviolence center and promote peace at URI.
“We want students to know about us and about our program, but we also are celebrating numerous other programs that help to support non-violence on campus and beyond,” Thendar said.
The Nonviolence Center has held a Summer Training Institute for over 20 years. In this program, people from all around the world come to URI to learn about Martin Luther King Jr.’s theories on peace, according to Thendar.
Students at URI can minor in nonviolence and peace studies with just 18 credits, according to the program’s website. The courses are offered to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Courses include classes in psychology, nonviolence and peace studies, the honors program, philosophy, and community service. People of all ages and in all walks of life attend these courses each year, according to Thendar.
The event featured vendors from different organizations that promote peace and mindfulness. One table had a hands-on activity where attendees made their own silk peace flags with Sharpies and stencils.
Autumn Francesca, the facilitator of her company, Inner Peace and Intentions for Well Being, said that she took a class from the Center for Nonviolence and Peace and attended the nonviolence seminar in 2016.
“Taking those courses completely changed my outlook on life,” Francesca said. “I learned about intention setting and was able to accomplish things that I never thought I’d be able to do.”
She emphasized the importance of students and young people taking control of their thoughts and their lives.
“Whether we’re aware of it or not, our minds are working, and we have a lot of thoughts going on in our head,” Francesca said. “Most of the time, people are not mindful about their thoughts, because they’re too caught up in the madness of the day.”
According to her, to achieve mindful thinking, students should start small, by setting intentions for their day and then building upon those by setting intentions for the week, month, year, and up to their lives.
“If students have a project to present in the day, it’s easy to fall into the trap of ‘I won’t get a good grade’ or ‘I’m going to mess up,’” Francesca said. “If students start their days by going over their tasks and thinking ‘I’m going to have a good day and everything is going to work in my favor,’ their mindset will completely change.”
Francesca urged students to take classes through the nonviolence program and to attend the summer seminar. For her, the shift in mindset is easy to achieve with practice and actively prioritizing their thoughts and is greatly beneficial to all students.