For a more streamlined read, note the following:
–links to each CJP program are omitted. To learn more about the specific programs named here, please visit the .
— a faculty or staff member’s title is listed once, on first reference. To learn more about individual faculty and staff members, visit the .
Our alumni are accomplished people and a wonderful resource, which is why we include a link to each personal profile on the . This information is provided and updated voluntarily.
September 2019

- A class of 22 new graduate students begin their first semester of studies.
- The new graduate students participate in CJP鈥檚 Grounding Day: an opportunity to begin to ground students in the history and current social, political, economic and environmental justice realities in Harrisonburg.
- Fidele Ayu Lumeya MA 鈥00 returns to the Democratic Republic of Congo to direct the Congo Ubuntu Peacebuilding Center.
- Talibah Aquil MA ’19 performs “Ghana, remember me鈥,” a multimedia production that sprung from her 2019 travels in Ghana as part of her capstone project on the themes of identity, race, trauma and healing.
- Twenty-one participants join STAR 1 on campus with Lead Trainer Katie Mansfield and Ayman Kerols MA ’16.
October 2019

- CJP鈥檚 25th anniversary year kicks off with a 鈥淭enTalks鈥 event at EMU鈥檚 Homecoming and Family Weekend featuring Tammy Krause MA 鈥99, Darsheel Kaur MA 鈥17, and John E. Sharp, father of Michael J. Sharp ’05.
- Donna Minter, founder and executive director of the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute and STAR Trainer, is honored with the Melanie Greenberg U.S. Peacebuilding Award of Excellence.
- Professor Johonna Turner, co-director of the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, gives the keynote address at a symposium on restorative justice hosted by the University of Richmond Public Interest Law Review. Attorney Brenda Waugh MA 鈥09 provides a talk on restorative lawyering and Suzanne Praill MA 鈥10, director of restorative justice at the Fairfield Center, contributes to a panel discussion.
- In collaboration with , CJP hosts Community Criminal Justice Days conference, bringing together community stakeholders for discussions and planning around reducing incarceration and recidivism in the local area.
- Howard Zehr, distinguished professor of restorative justice, is the featured speaker at the 2019 Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Lecture at George Mason University.
November 2019

- CJP co-sponsors a conference in Mexico City on the intersection of gender and peacebuilding: 鈥淐onstrucci贸n de Paz con Perspectiva de G茅nero鈥 at the University Iberoamericana, a Jesuit-affiliated institution. Alena Yoder, CJP鈥檚 program development associate, was a panel moderator. Vernon Jantzi, emeritus professor, and Jayne Docherty, CJP executive director, presented papers.
- STAR trainers facilitate a workshop for the Grand Canyon National Park鈥檚 Public Lands for all Inclusion Summit to explore principles of restorative justice, trauma awareness, resilience, and truth and reconciliation and how those principles might be applied in the organizations and the workplaces. Read about STAR’s ongoing relationship with the National Park Service.
- Kajungu Mturi MA 鈥18 facilitates a day of trauma and resilience training for EMU鈥檚 Intensive English Program staff and instructors.
- Gilberto P茅rez Jr. ’94 GC ’99, vice president for student life at Goshen College, wins his bid for a city council seat in Goshen, Indiana. He will be the first Latino council member in a city that is 33-34% Latino.
- A Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice features multiple speakers on engaging communities of faith in promoting restorative justice, along with specific avenues and resources for collaborating with Catholic parishes and ministries.
- Eighteen people participate in STAR 2 with Katie Mansfield and Lisa Collins.
December 2019

- Katie Mansfield and Jon Swartz MA 鈥14 facilitate three days of STAR-based training for the Department of the Interior鈥檚 Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution, including Sigal Shoham MA ’13.
- EMU recognizes Dawn Curtis-Thames MA ’20 and David Nyiringabo MA ’20, then second-year CJP students, for their outstanding contributions to CJP and the larger university community. Read about their practicum studies.
January 2020

- Wayne Marriott MA ’18, a conflict coach and mediator based in Christchurch, New Zealand, receives the Resolution Institute’s 2019 Michael Klug Award for his support to the local community after the mosque shootings there last year.
- The 10-episode Peacebuilder podcast launches, featuring faculty and staff members reflecting on the program鈥檚 history and their own peacebuilding work.
- Twenty-two people, including 11 CJP MA students, participate in STAR 1 on campus with Katie Mansfield and Johonna Turner.
February 2020

- The fifth annual SPI Community Day welcomes about 100 participants to get a taste of Summer Peacebuilding Institute classes and hear from speakers on racial justice, including Chief Kenneth Branham of the Monacan nation and Frank Dukes, a professor at the University of Virginia.
- Professor Emeritus Barry Hart is the keynote speaker at a seminar organized by Initiatives of Change Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, discussing the role restorative justice could play in restoring and healing wounded people to create a more just society.
- The Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice hosts a webinar on Equal Justice USA鈥檚 approach to the relationship between community and police in Newark, N.J., and how trauma-informed responses to violence that are community-driven can reduce harm for those most vulnerable and marginalized.
- Ten people join Kajungu Mturi MA 鈥18 and Katie Mansfield at a STAR 1 training on campus.
- Katie Mansfield presents on a panel titled 鈥淗ealing and Resilience: Taking a trauma-informed approach to delivering assistance鈥 sponsored by the Peace and Security Workgroup of the Society for International Development-Washington Chapter.
March 2020

- CJP staff and faculty start working remotely and moving academic classes online due to COVID-19.
- STAR provides three days of training for the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
- The 25th Anniversary Celebration, planned for the summer, is postponed for a year. The new dates are June 4-6, 2021. Alicia Garza, John Paul Lederach and sujatha baliga are among the scheduled speakers who plan to attend.
- Katie Mansfield launches the virtual community Dancing Resilience, through which participants all over the world meet via video conference multiple times a day to dance together.
- The Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice hosts a virtual book launch for (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020), by Lindsey Pointer, Kathleen McGoey, and Haley Farrar.
April 2020

- SPI announces its move to an all-online format.
- Donors help to meet two $35,000 matching grants set up by two couples and gave generously during LovEMU Day in honor of CJP鈥檚 25th anniversary.
- Cole Parke MA ’12 and Emmanuel Bombande MA ’02 are named as 2020 Peacebuilder of the Year honorees.
- STAR releases the Care 鈥淭ogether鈥 video series: conversations between Katie Mansfield, STAR trainers and practitioners.
May 2020

- SPI 2020 marks the 26th year of gathering peacebuilders for mutual learning and support 鈥 online this year using video conferencing and other digital tools. Eleven courses are offered to more than 180 people across 60% of the world鈥檚 time zones. Read general news coverage here, and more specific articles about creating community online and the digital peacebuilding class.
- Sixteen CJP graduates representing nine countries receive their degrees.
- Johonna Turner is one of the three faculty presented with EMU’s annual Excellence in Teaching Awards.
- Christine Kindler MA ’17 receives the Berlin Fellowship from Humanity in Action.
- The new Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership is launched earlier than expected as CJP moves online. The degree with online, hybrid and residential options for working professionals includes courses in business and leadership and will continue to add courses from other programs at EMU as electives.
June 2020

- SkyHorse Publishing releases a new edition of Carolyn Yoder‘s Little Book of Trauma Healing.
- STAR provides a webinar for Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency鈥檚 Service Coordinators and Case Managers on trauma and resilience.
July 2020

- STAR trains campus ministry professionals at the National Association of Campus Ministers virtual conference.
- An advisory group of STAR trainers and practitioners work with Katie Mansfield to recreate STAR for online delivery. The group includes Donna Minter, Crixell Shell, Ram Bhagat GC ’19, Lisa Collins, Meenakshi Chhabra, and Johonna Turner. Elaine Zook Barge MA ’03, Vernon Jantzi, and Carolyn Yoder provide additional input and insight.
- STAR announces registration for STAR online.
- Johonna Turner contributes a chapter to Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities (Living Justice Press, 2020), a collection of 18 essays penned by practitioners and scholars of color.
August 2020
- STAR wraps up four webinars for National Park Service staff.
- CJP welcomes 30 new students for orientation. This includes nine students in the new MA in Transformational Leadership program, with online, hybrid and residential options.
- Planning continues for the CJP “25+1” anniversary celebration.

