Aaron David Miller, author and former adviser to six Secretaries of State, from George Shultz under Reagan to Colin Powell under Bush, came to Swarthmore on Wednesday [March 18, 2009] to offer President Obama some expert advice on how he can best on deal with Israel during his administration.

Aaron Brecher ’10 raised funds and sponsorship from a variety of organizations in order to have Miller appear — Sofi, the College Dems, FFFS, the President’s Office, Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science Department, and outside grants from Legacy Heritage as well as the Israel on Campus Coalition.? Read the full story by Lauren Stokes in The Daily Gazette.

Afghan women’s rights activist Suraya Pakzad to speak at Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse, Monday, March 23, 7:00 pm

For over a decade — beginning in the darkest days of Taliban oppression– Afghan activist Suraya Pakzad and her organization, Voice of Women, has worked to protect girls and women from the abuses of tribal marital customs and of Islamist extremism. Under the most dangerous and hostile of circumstances, Pakzad has tirelessly provided girls and women with education, physical safe-havens, and paid employment. Crucially, Pakzad has also enriched awareness within Afghanistan of the depth of its human rights injustices, allowing the society to heal from within. Through Voice of Women, Pakzad has begun to build a social infrastructure that will go a long way toward achieving regional strength and stability.

We are fortunate to be able to meet Suraya Pakzad on her first return to the United States after her acceptance last year of the rare honor of the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage award.

Please join us to hear Suraya Pakzad. Learn more about her human rights work, and consider what can be done to help.

This talk is free and open to the public.

Monday, March 23, 7:00 pm

Swarthmore, PA, 19081

More information is available at http://swarthmore.quaker.org/pakzad

Activism shapes student life at Swarthmore

BY HANNAH PURKEY In print | March 5, 2009

“During her time at Swarthmore, Miriam Feingold Real ’63 was no stranger to the county jails. An ardent activist who was involved in organizing many of the demonstrations against segregation in Chester, Pennsylvania and Cambridge, Maryland, Real believed that sometimes sacrifices had to be made in the name of social justice. ‘Some of the activities we were involved in ended up with us being arrested,’ Real said. ‘I remember spending several days in jail with my school books from Swarthmore, attempting to do my homework and study.’

“Real is only one of many students in the history of the college who have translated their concern with social justice into explicit activism. This dual dedication to academics and social change has been a mark of Swarthmore’s reputation for years, but few have questioned to what extent it is a part of the College’s history….” see the full story in The Phoenix.

TO CHANGE THE WORLD, WE MUST CHANGE OURSELVES

John Dear, S.J.,

Peace activist, lecturer, and author of A Persistent Peace: One Man’s Struggle for a Non Violent World

This event serves as the Inaugural lecture for the Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Social Room, Fournier Hall

LECTURE IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

For more information, contact Catherine Nerney, SSJ, Ph.D.

at 215.248.7099 or e-mail nerneyc@chc.edu

See the press release

Gulliver’s Troubles: the Obama Administration and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

A Lecture by Aaron David Miller

Wednesday, March 18, 4:15-6:30 in Sci 101

Come hear the author of The Much Too Promised Land, an advisor to six secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli issues, and a twenty-year veteran of the State Department talk about America’s role in brokering Middle East peace.

Aaron David Miller is a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a former president of Seeds of Peace, and an experienced negotiator who served with the State Department from 1978 to 2003. He is the author of The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace.

Sponsored By: Swarthmore Organization for Israel, College Democrates, Forum for Free Speech, the President’s Office, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Political Science.