Nonviolence Programs Kansas State University

Nonviolence Programs Kansas State University “412” and Nonviolence The U.S. Department of Justice statistics inform relationships and fair relationships) are inextri- us that 412 rapes occur on a campus the size of cably linked and that it is up to us to step up K-State in a given year. Advocates have no rea- and amend the injustices before the violence son to think that not the case. begins? For the sake of argument (because it certainly In my opinion, the question that will determine does not happen this way), let’s pretend our the safety and wholeness or our lives in the 21st community does not deny this startling statistic. century is this: “can human beings choose to Let’s say 412 reports are made, 412 perpetrators evolve?” Can we transcend the dualistic world- are apprehended and sentenced, and that 412 view of our ancestors that led us to “survival of lives are restored to health. the fittest,” “win/lose,” problem solving? Can we take advantage of modern perspectives and My question is... What do we do next year - and technologies and move toward a more holis- the next? Do we follow tradition and wait for tic and sustainable mode of problem solving? the next 412 rapes to occur? And the next? Or... “ The bottom line is - if we want sustainable do we face the fact that a whole continuum of interactions, nonviolence is the only way to violence happens; that both perpetrators and the achieve them. victims are not aberrations but, rather, they are our brothers and neighbors and ourselves? Can we come to see that safety and fairness (healthy For more information: Dr. Susan L. Allen Director of Nonviolence Education (785)532-5343 www.ksu.edu/nonviolence What better place than a university campus to demonstrate that it’s possible to move our community and world from a “culture of violence,” where we accept violence as normal, and toward a “culture of nonviolence,” where we organize to get ahead of and prempt the violence? In 2000 K-State began The contents of this booklet are copyrighted and may not be used without permission of the author. (c) 2008 by Susan L. Allen creating nonviolence education programs to show that we can learn to practice nonviolence in our “Illiterate” quote, David Allan in Coleman McCarthy, 2000; “Be the Change”quote, Mohandas K. Gandhi daily lives. What do learning nonviolent com- abuse of power; disease and dis-ease) us that nonviolence actually is a “force munications skills, yoga classes, an before crisis and violence. Human more powerful” than violence when international news television in the history and patterns throughout na- applied visibly and persistently. K-State Union, cleaning litter from ture show us that violence leads only KS Highway #177, making and fill- to more violence and that nonviolent However unfamiliar or misunderstood, ing “empty bowls” for a local hunger interactions are the only way to make nonviolence actually gives us a rela- project, shielding graduates and fami- our relationships sustainable. tively baggage-free, non-moralistic, lies from Topeka’s Phelps clan in a unemotional and perhaps most impor- “Date with Hate” and a “Run Against Local nonviolence education projects tantly, logical lan¬guage to set about Rape” event have in common? address problems at all level of inter- changing the way we resolve conflict action, from our self to our environ- -- locally and globally, personally and They are a few of the ways K-State ment. For example, yoga helps us institutionally. students, faculty and community “begin within,” to create better bal- members are acting to bring healthy, ance within our self. There are many dynamic balance to their relationships, ways to attain healthy equilibrium but 1. We have many requests for SafeZone trainings from campus and off-campus groups and for help large and small. They also represent yoga is something practical and fun, starting new SZ programs in other communities - various projects of the Campaign for that we can do every day. Watching *We need funds for trainers and a coordinator Nonviolence, Women’s Center and news and views from the perspective 2. We have created excellent nonviolence materials but we need more (for example, our “Bill Snyder other Nonviolence Education pro- of other cultures makes it possible to Win-Win” TV video cost $1000) grams at Kansas State University. understand the interconnected world *We need funds for design, development, printing, etc in which we live and thus helps bring *We need funds for public education, videos, media fees for ad space and airtime There seem to be a never-ending sup- safe interactions to our world. Practic- 3. We have a new Nonviolence Studies Certificate Program available from the College of Arts & ply of conflict in our lives that, tradi- ing good conservation is one way to Sciences - tionally, we focus on after the crisis move our shared environment toward *We need funds for faculty salaries; a (named) Chair in NVS and a NVS Department or and violence have begun. Nonvio- sustainability. Learning the ABC’s of Program lence education teaches us to address nonviolent communication is key to 4. We do applied nonviolence and violence prevention work as well as organizing academic pro- the complex sources of conflict before equitable and therefore safe interper- grams and for this we need coordination - it becomes so serious. Maybe it is a *We need funds for an office, operational expenses and an administrator/projects sonal relationships. coordinator fail safe mechanism build into the human brain like catching ourselves be- K-State’s nonviolence education pro- 5. There are national and international resources available to broaden our programs and teaching fore a fall or maybe it is a miracle but, grams are based on an anthropological *We need funds for films, speaker fees, and travel as fortune would have it, just as hu- or holistic definition of nonviolence man beings are nearing system break- developed by Susan L. Allen, direc- Nonviolence Studies Certificate Program down on all levels of our lives, from tor of Nonviolence Education at K- You. Kansas State University. The World. stress to divorce to economic collapse State. Her previous job -- addressing Ever wonder how you can change the conditions that engender and global warming, holistic perspec- endemic problems of rape and other violence? tives, network-building technologies violence on our campus as director of and awareness of nonviolent problem the Women’s Center -- combined with Do you think there must be a better way to resolve conflict than solving methods are becoming avail- a background in the whole-systems ...bullying? ...abusing power? ....war? ....violence? able. perspectives of anthropology led Al- len to generate a logical and practi- Do you wonder why people care about...human rights? ...human wrongs? ...social justice? Nonviolence education helps us STEP cal approach to nonviolence she calls BACK to conceptualize conflict with- “every day nonviolence.” Do you want to learn to change for the better ...the world in the layers of systems that surround ...the environment ...your relationships ...your Self? them; begin to see connections, iden- Every Day Nonviolence (EDNV) tify patterns and precursors, and plan EDNV is based on a realization that Nonviolence strategies, tactics & tools help us resolve problems nonviolently. ahead much earlier in the develop- we don’t have to be Mahatma Gan- Introduction to Nonviolence Studies, ment of problem; and then asks us to dhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. Applied Nonviolence Studies & Many Electives STEP UP to devise nonviolent “ways” to practice nonviolence; and, in fact, College of Arts & Sciences - 3 hours each/15 hours Certificate to correct the course of imbalanced re- Gandhi said this, himself, with his Open to all majors and departments. Ask your advisor! lationships (which we see as injustice, famous admonition to “Be the change www.ksu.edu/nonviolence 2 11 It may have been the anti-war fervor “satyagraha has been designed as an you wish to see in the world.” When we wait for a crisis and call the profession- of the Vietnam era or even the polar- effective substitute for violence.” The als, by definition, we always will be “a day late and a dollar short” because we ized “red-blue” era in which we live, study of nonviolence is still so new, are acting after the violence has begun. At K-State we are learning how to expect but something has created bad feel- however, that most people mistakenly nonviolence and assume some response-ability for creating healthy interactions ings among some about “peace and associate nonviolence with passivity. that will result in a more equitable and thus safer campus community. nonviolence” movements. Whatever They may even think it means being its cause, in order to have a successful cowardly. To the contrary, however, Most local nonviolence education work is carried out through the Campaign for Campaign for Nonviolence or nonvio- nonviolent methods are not passive; Nonviolence. Created in 2000, the CNV is both a grassroots, volunteer-based lence movement, in general, it is im- they are active. They do not oppose movement to build a nonviolent community and a presidential-level, campus- portant to acknowledge resistance to protecting oneself; indeed, they ask us wide committee. Some of our projects are listed in this booklet. For more infor- the word “nonviolence.” to stop waiting for crisis and abdicat- mation, see: www.ksu.edu/nonviolence ing responsibility for what is by then Part of the problem is no one knows for serious conflict to professionals (who sure what “nonviolence” means... Will arrive after the fact, after the system it offend military family and friends if has begun to fail).

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