Open to any student who would like to develop critical leadership skills, have a positive impact on the campus climate, and basically change the world!

• Students who complete all three steps will be recognized as certified “Peace Ambassadors” of the Peace Pack. 
  • Peace Ambassadors will be added to a collective directory that any student group may call on to help facilitate student-led dialogue.
• Students who participate in at least two of the three steps will be recognized as “Peer Peacemakers” of the Peace Pack.
• Students who participate in any one of the five steps will be recognized as members of the Peace Pack.

1. Attend a three-part training series on Peacebuilding tools and techniques:
• Restorative Justice (RJ) 
• Ethical Decision-Making (EDM) 
• Bystander Intervention and Expressive Activity Response
2. Use these tools and techniques to plan and implement three peacebuilding activities (assistance provided by Peace Pack leaders).
• Host an RJ forum on the topic of your choosing
• Have an EDM processing and planning meeting based on what you learned from your forum
• Implement your plan to promote peaceful understanding around the topic of your forum, or a peaceful campus climate in general
3. Debrief on Peace Pack experience and earn Peace Ambassador Certificate upon completion of the above training and activities.

Training opportunities are offered several times each semester. Check Wolf Connect for dates and times.

Register on Wolf Connect or contact the Peace Pack leaders for more information:

Lauren Harris 
Student Conduct Specialist –Investigator/ Office of Community Standards 
Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management 
678-839- 4733
peacepack@westga.edu

Tahirih Varner 
Director of Ombuds Services/ Office of the University Ombuds
President’s Division
678-839-4165
peacepack@westga.edu 

Restorative Justice (RJ) theory provides a framework for facilitating peaceful and balanced group dialogue around difficult or controversial topics. The goal is not to convince or persuade each other of one viewpoint or another, but simply to facilitate mutual understanding that may hopefully lead to more respectful and possibly even helpful, collaborative interactions.   

Topics for campus RJ forums

These should be topics chosen by the student group and identified as important, controversial matters. If it is not controversial enough or important enough, then there is probably no need to implement a peaceful plan to address it, because it would not have disturbed the peace much to begin with. 

Examples: 

After facilitating a dialogue for greater understanding using the RJ method, your group will use the ethical decision-making techniques gained to create a plan to positively impact the matter discussed and promote peace. If your topic was the Mental Health of College Students, for example, and you learned that anxiety and suicide rates spike around exam time, your group my create a Wall of Encouragement, where you invite students to decorate a wall with words of encouragement for one another. Other examples of activities to promote peace, understanding and positive climates on college campuses across the country are:

• “Pay if Forward” -engage in act of volunteerism or service to help those in need. 
• Create a gallery of art (pictures, poems and paintings) that promote peace. 
• Host an event with peace-building activities.