Student Peacemakers hold summit to present proposal draft

While no University student will be on campus by the time the Rutgers 2030 Master Plan is brought to fruition, some students still want to accomplish their own goals by then.

Student Peacemakers, a student organization on campus, held their first annual Rutgers Peace Summit, where it revealed a proposal of 10 globally-minded goals to improve the Rutgers community. The group is working alongside other organizations including the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) and Students for Environmental Awareness.

The Peace Proposal was written by student-led organizations, and provides a voice for the student body. In attendance at the event was at least one representative for each goal, where they spoke about their plans with the student body.

The 10 goals listed on the proposal are having greater financial transparency, intelligent infrastructure, environmental sustainability, equitable education, gender equality, healthier lifestyles, as well as combating stigma, ensuring safety, encouraging civic engagement and creating peace and inclusivity.

Lauren McGowan, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said the organization was founded on the idea of peace and inclusivity last year. Student Peacemakers decided to combine the 2030 Strategic Plan with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals this past summer, and drafted the proposal.

“This is just a work in progress,” said McGowan, president of Student Peacemakers. “We’re looking to finish this proposal by the end of this semester.”

Hina Walajahi, director of Events and a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said she thought the event was successful because students had meaningful conversations and contributed to the proposal.

“I think it was cool that people kept asking how to get more involved — even without us saying it, they want to continue it,” she said. “It shows there are issues that people don’t normally get to have that conversation about.”

The peace summit brought those students together, Walajahi said.

“It was like ‘let’s sit down and talk about something we don’t get from classes or our residence halls, even from our own organizations,’” she said.

She said she gained connections with students, who were able to give her new perspectives and resources.

“It gives you hope too,” she said. “We were wondering if anyone is even going to do this, but then when I met with groups and got to speak with students, I realized this is such a big thing."

Attendees were able to meet people from different organizations, she said. Many of the participants provided feedback as well.

Following the event, the organization opened up a forum on their website, studentpeacemakers.com, where students can give feedback on the event and proposal, as well as add and amend clauses.

“Everyone has such different experiences and different educational backgrounds," she said. "But there’s a lot to this we don’t know, like there could be a whole clause we forget, but we wouldn’t even know because we aren’t experts on it."

After the final proposal is finished, it will be presented to administrators including Rutgers Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Felicia McGinty and University President Robert L. Barchi.

Their organization is a call to action for the students, after the “wave of student activism swept campus,” McGowan said.

“We’re providing structure to take the activism and make something come of it,” she said.

This proposal and its goals are something they want to achieve through this call to action while not necessarily protesting, said Aaron Jaslove, treasurer of the organization.

“A lot of times, (people) have protest movements where they’re yelling and everyone’s just like ‘What exactly do they want?’" he said. "We have very specific goals, (the administration) cannot say they don’t know what we want."

McGowan and Jaslove said they are working closely with other student organizations to perfect this proposal and make the goals a reality.

“Administrators want to hear specific goals we can actually achieve, and by working with student groups, we’re able to provide a more comprehensive goal,” McGowan said.

By collaborating with others, McGowan hopes the administration will take them more seriously after seeing the research done, as well as seeing that students are willing to take on the challenge of enforcing the goals at Rutgers.

These student groups will act as liaisons for each of these goals for Student Peacemakers, McGowan said. Each group had a representative at the event as well.

“Sometimes, different movements or student voices may give off the perception that we’re just blaming the University for things, which is not what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re saying ‘let’s work together with you.’”

Student Peacemakers will have their next event on Dec. 9 at the Student Activities Center on the College Avenue campus. It will be an interfaith discussion, but all students are invited.

“When people protest a lot of the time, they’re very good at saying what’s wrong,” Jaslove said. “But we want to say how to fix it.”