In the meantime, Hackney鈥檚 family encouraged her to consider EMU. Her mother, Marian Driver Hackney, was a 1970 graduate. Her grandmother, Virginia Weaver Driver (EMS 鈥�35), was an even stronger advocate. Driver called herself EMU鈥檚 鈥渢win,鈥� having been born in 1917, the same year Eastern Mennonite School opened (her childhood home was the Weaver House, now occupied by offices of ).

Hackney also had a few older cousins studying at EMU, and so by the fall of 2001 she was moving into a dorm room in Roselawn. California still beckoned, though. Hackney figured she would transfer after the year was over. But 鈥淚 had some really awesome friends and they talked me into staying.鈥�

First, Focusing on Water Quality

Hackney graduated in 2007 (on the six-year plan, thanks to some time off, switching majors, working, etc.) with a degree in and . Living in Staunton, Virginia, she worked as a field conservation technician for the Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District. She spent most of her time focused on water quality and stream protection, and along the way, decided that her next move would be to study public health.

Soon, she began looking at graduate programs, but struggled to find one that felt like a match. She wanted something broad, something that would accommodate her to interests in environmental issues and social justice. Hackney turned to Google, typing all these things in one jumbled, run-on query, just to see what would happen.

She laughed at what bubbled up: a link to the website of . Probably not what she was looking for, she thought at first. As she started reading more, though, a strange realization set in. It looked as if the curriculum and faculty would support and encourage the holistic approach to studying public health that she wanted.

鈥淚t very, very surprisingly felt like clearly the right fit for me, even though I鈥檇 never planned to come back to EMU,鈥� Hackney says.

And so, in 2008, she was back at EMU as a graduate student at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, working on her master鈥檚 in conflict transformation with a focus on .

Next, Addressing Coal Mining

During her final semester, she fulfilled a practicum requirement by spending two and half months in Mingo County, WVa., with an environmental and public health organization called the . Hackney worked with the group in a number of areas, including research, community organizing and advocacy on behalf of communities affected by groundwater contamination from coal mining waste.

Hackney loved her grad program, but going into her practicum she wasn鈥檛 exactly sure what would come after she graduated in the spring of 2010 鈥� specifically, how or where she鈥檇 apply what she had been studying.

In West Virginia, she worked beside several medical students who shared her commitment to social justice and environmental advocacy. Physicians don鈥檛 have to be confined to clinics and hospitals, she realized. Then followed the 鈥渁ha鈥� moment, there in the decaying hills of West Virginia coal country, the threads of the past decade all coming together. Hackney decided to become a medical doctor.

Back home in Staunton, she picked up CNA and EMT certifications and started working at the Augusta Medical Center. With her sights turned to medical school, Hackney contacted , one of her biology professors from her undergraduate days during EMU Act I, for some guidance.

As she and Miller corresponded, he mentioned that EMU was planning to launch a new that would prepare students with college degrees in other fields to enter medical school. And yet again, amazingly, completely unexpectedly, Hackney鈥檚 evolving life plans had pointing her back to Harrisonburg, 30 miles north of Staunton. The timing, the closeness to home, the small class size, the familiarity, it just made sense.

Now, Transitioning to Medicine

Now in her first semester of the program, Hackney hopes this third stint at EMU will be her shortest. She plans to earn a one-year certificate, before taking the MCAT next spring and applying to medical schools next summer. If all goes according to current plan (always subject to change, Hackney avers), she鈥檒l start med school in the fall of 2014.

Approaching the halfway point of her first semester of Act III at EMU, Hackney is studying organic chemistry, physics, developmental biology and taking a biomedicine seminar. Back in a science lab for the first time in seven years, she finds the work difficult, sometimes overwhelming, and thoroughly enjoyable.

鈥淚t鈥檚 funny the way things work out,鈥� Hackney says, looking back on the unexpected ways she ended up at EMU, and once again, and then yet again.

It all makes sense in retrospect, each step building on the last, nonlinear but still connected way points on a route that continues to unfold.

鈥檚 journey to becoming a Nobel Peace laureate began, ironically enough, because she was angry.

Angry about the way women鈥檚 roles were reduced to little more than cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. Angry about rampant rape and domestic abuse throughout her native Liberia. And angry about the country鈥檚 鈥渟enseless鈥� civil war.

At James Madison University Saturday, Gbowee, a joint recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, told those gathered for the 2012 International Student Leadership Conference how important that anger was 鈥� and even more significantly, how she channeled it into a constructive plan of action.

鈥淵ou must be angry,鈥� said Gbowee, who mobilized women into an influential peacebuilding movement in Liberia. 鈥淸But] when you鈥檙e angry, there should be no talks of revenge.鈥�

Gbowee鈥檚 anger, instead, led her to create the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement. The non-violent organization 鈥� some 2,500 women strong 鈥� helped bring the second Liberian civil war to an end in 2003 after four years of conflict.

鈥淭he need for people to answer 鈥榶es鈥� to lead change is so great,鈥� said Gbowee, who has been in the United States since Feb. 26 speaking on average at two events per day. 鈥淚n order to see the change you want to see, you cannot [contribute to a movement]. You have to lead.鈥�

Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October along with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni women鈥檚 rights activist Tawakkul Karman.

Local Ties

The weekend-long leadership conference, sponsored annually by JMU and 草莓社区, brought together about 200 international students and advisers from higher education institutions across the nation. Gbowee gave the event鈥檚 keynote address at JMU鈥檚 Festival Conference and Student Center Saturday morning, marking the second time she has visited the area since winning the Nobel. Even before her recent visits, Gbowee was no stranger to the central Valley. The 39-year-old earned a from EMU鈥檚 in 2007. And Gbowee鈥檚 son, Joshua Mensa, is currently an EMU sophomore.

Gbowee is also the co-founder of the and supported the creation of the . Her movements helped get Sirleaf elected the first female president of an African nation. Her work also was influential in creating a lawful definition for rape in Liberia, which previously did not have one. The west African country now has one of the strongest rape laws in the world, said Gbowee.

鈥淚 describe the world as upside down,鈥� she said. 鈥淕ood is seen as evil, evil is seen as good. People like yourself and myself [are] trying to tilt it upright through the tiny actions we do.鈥�

Giving advice to college-aged leaders, Gbowee told them to be persistent, bold and selfless and to have focused goals.

鈥淭here is no way you can lead a change if it is all about you,鈥� said Gbowee. 鈥淵ou cannot lead a change if you are not passionate about your issues because it is that passion that will wake you up when your knees are aching鈥� when there鈥檚 no money in the bank account鈥� [it will] keep your adrenaline pumping when you think about your work.鈥�

As Gbowee regaled the audience with personal stories and advice, some audience members had barely noticed that 90 minutes had flown by.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel time,鈥� Lynchburg College freshman Karen Figueroa said with a look of awe on her face. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most inspiring thing I鈥檝e ever heard in my life.鈥�

As the event drew to a close, host Salorne McDonald asked students to 鈥渞emember the words emblazoned on the back of your shirts.鈥�

The words were a quote from Gbowee advising: 鈥淒on鈥檛 wait for a Gandhi, don鈥檛 wait for a King, don鈥檛 wait for a Mandela,鈥� referring to a trio who are arguably best known peace activists of the 20th century.聽 鈥淵ou are your own Mandela, you are your own Gandhi, you are your own King.鈥�

The four will be joining 21 other international observers assembled in Florida by Pax Christi, a Catholic organization devoted to promoting the gospel imperative of peacemaking.

The election-monitoring effort is part of the Voting Justice Campaign for the U.S. Presidential election on November 2. The four counties on which it is focused are Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.

“We chose Florida because of the improprieties that occurred there during the Presidential election of 2000,” says a statement posted on the organization

The event will open at 11 a.m. with multi-media presentations and music.

The day will continue with a Middle Eastern lunch at 12:30 p.m. Several of the CTP student-cooks will be observing Ramadan and thus deserve special thanks for their hospitable efforts to offer guests food that they themselves cannot eat until after sundown.

There is no charge for the meal, but donations are welcome. Persons planning to attend should call Bonnie Price Lofton at 432-4234 to help determine how much food should be prepared.

After lunch, CTP students will tell their stories on conflict and peacebuilding in informal group settings between 2-4 p.m.

Visitors are invited to remain on campus following the open house to see a provocative dramatic production on the theme of war, “Bury the Dead” by Irwin Shaw, performed by EMU’s theater department at 7:30 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium. Tickets will be on sale at the door.

Ms. Lofton noted that a special celebration is being planned for June 3-5, 2005 to mark the 10th anniverary of the start of the MA in Conflict Transformation Program.

Some 140 students and faculty from Mennonite, Brethren, Quaker and other schools across the United States and Canada gathered in Harrisonburg, Va., Feb. 20-21 for the annual Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship hosted by 草莓社区. The conference is held on a different campus each year.

“The program theme, ‘Stories of Healing,’ sought to offer both theoretical and practical knowledge in developing healing skills for personal use after a traumatic event and for accompanying others on the journey to recovery,” according to meeting organizer Bill Goldberg of Harrisonburg.

The event drew participants from Bethel College, Bluffton, Catholic University, Earlham College, Conrad Grebel, EMU, Eastern Mennonite High School, James Madison University, Menno Simons and Canadian Mennonite University.

A theater piece, “A Body in Motion,” written by EMU graduate and professional dramatist Ingrid DeSanctis and based on the book, “Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims” by Howard Zehr, co-director of the Conflict Transformation Program at EMU, was presented during the conference. Because the play is emotionally intense, a lengthy discussion followed the performance.

Local groups “Red Fish Blue Fish” and “Oscar’s Mad” provided special music in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse on campus. A talent show also proved popular.

Asked near the end of the conference to indicate a highlight, many persons pointed to the opening talk by Peter Loge, a former director of the Campaign for Criminal Justice in Washington, D.C., citing appreciation for his comments on the unique role and opportunities that Christians can have in peacebuilding efforts in the world.

Lynn Shiner, director of the Pennsylvania Victims Compensation Program,tells her “survivor’s story” in a plenary talk at the conference.
Photo by Jim Bishop

Other speakers and workshop leaders included Lynn Shiner, director of Pennsylvania’s Victims Compensation Program; John Glick, a local acupuncturist and board member of the Gesundheit Institute; Cheryl Talley, assistant professor of psychology at James Madison University; Jayne Docherty and Barry Hart of the Conflict Transformation Program faculty and students in both undergraduate and graduate programs at EMU.

Shiner shared her personal story of her two children being stabbed to death on Christmas Eve, 1994, by her ex-husband, who then took his own life.

“For all practical purposes, my own life was over,” she told her spellbound audience. “The hardest part was learning things about my late husband’s past that should have been revealed to me. Many times I felt that I was the one most responsible for my children’s deaths.”

Shiner went on to work for the passage of legislation in Pennsylvania – Jen and Dave’s Law, passed in 1996 – that gives new rights to ex-spouses with shared custody to find out if their ex-spouse had been arrested for any crimes.

Tracey King, a student in EMU’s Conflict Transformation Program, took part in a workshop, “Ritual and Movement: Creating Community and Peace among Women.” The workshop, for women only, was designed to explore the power of dance and ritual and how they can be used to provide a safe place where women can support and encourage each other. After a time of talking together in small groups about women