{"id":12550,"date":"2012-04-30T10:44:31","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T14:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=12550"},"modified":"2012-05-11T09:58:58","modified_gmt":"2012-05-11T13:58:58","slug":"disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Commencement speaker Abigail Disney asked the graduates of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) to support a greater role for women in the political arena, particularly in peace negotiations. If more women were at the negotiating tables, suggested Disney, wars would likely end sooner and on terms that permit faster healing.<\/p>\n<p>She cited a United Nations study that found that less than 3 percent of the signatories to 21 major peace agreements in recent years have been women.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12560\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12560\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/04\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/img_2909_commencement_web\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12560\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12560\" src=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2909_commencement_web-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2909_commencement_web-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2909_commencement_web.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Jon Styer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Addressing \u00a0thousands who gathered for EMU\u2019s 94<sup>th<\/sup> commencement, Disney referenced Julia Ward Howe, the 19<sup>th<\/sup>-century writer of the \u201cBattle Hymn of t\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00adhe Republic.\u201d She spoke of how the carnage of the Civil War caused Howe to move from rallying the North to fight against the South, as exemplified by the \u201cBattle Hymn of the Republic,\u201d to being a pacifist for the rest of her adult life.<\/p>\n<p>Howe was the first to lobby for the declaration of an annual day of recognition for mothers, but she linked such recognition to her view that mothers understand \u201cthe interdependent nature of life\u201d and therefore are more likely to work for peaceful resolution of conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWomen, in critical mass, in places where decisions are made, reduce the value of force and masculinity as political and social currency,\u201d Disney said. \u201cBy introducing alternative modes of problem solving\u2026., they make spaces hospitable not only to other women, but to all kinds of men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The graduation ceremony occurred outdoors under a brilliant blue sky with ideal temperatures, a fairy tale ending to a weekend forecast of rain and cool temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>Disney, who co-produced \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.praythedevilbacktohell.com\/\">Pray the Devil Back to Hell\u201d (Fork Films, 2008)<\/a>, offered her support to the values of social service and peace that EMU teaches: \u201cI feel I\u2019ve spent years trying to teach my sons about charity and mercy and patience. More often than not, I feel like I\u2019m forced to teach them these things against everything they see, in politics, popular culture, in school, in the public discourse and even in certain aspects of the religious sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12561\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12561\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/04\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/img_2769_commencement_web\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12561\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12561\" src=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2769_commencement_web-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2769_commencement_web-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2769_commencement_web-1024x621.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2769_commencement_web-610x370.jpg 610w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2769_commencement_web.jpg 1525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tammy Briggs (center), graduated from EMU with a master of science in nursing degree on Sunday. Photo by Jon Styer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Disney encouraged graduates to emulate the \u201cmoral wavelength\u201d on which Howe operated: \u201cWhat Howe originally proposed was an international Mother\u2019s Day of peace, because she felt down to the deepest part of her soul, that a woman brings a commitment to peace with her when she talks about politics that is visceral, and uncompromising, and functions on a moral wavelength that is nearly impossible to counter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Disney closed with a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, \u201cThe Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Want the change.\u00a0 Be inspired by the flame<br \/>\nwhere everything shines as it disappears.<br \/>\nThe artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much<br \/>\nas the curve of the body as it turns away.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What locks itself in sameness has congealed.<br \/>\nIs it safer to be gray and numb?<br \/>\nWhat turns hard becomes rigid<br \/>\nand is easily shattered.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Pour yourself out like a fountain.<br \/>\nFlow into the knowledge that what you are seeking<br \/>\nfinishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Every happiness is the child of a separation<br \/>\nit did not think it could survive.\u00a0 And Daphne, becoming a laurel,<br \/>\ndares you to become the wind.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Graduating class<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/president\/\">EMU President Loren Swartzendruber<\/a><\/strong> conferred 426 degrees and certificates: 306 undergraduate, 97 graduate degrees, 11 certificates in <a href=\"..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/seminary\/\">pastoral ministry studies<\/a>, 10 graduate certificates in <a href=\"..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/cjp\/grad\/\">conflict transformation<\/a> and two graduate certificates in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/cjp\/conflict-transformation\/\">peacebuilding and conflict transformation<\/a> in educational settings.<\/p>\n<p>The undergraduate class had 99 people who graduated with honors, finishing with cumulative grade point averages between 3.6 and 4.0.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the administrators, faculty and students wore bailing twine pinned to their robes in remembrance of farm-raised <a href=\"..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/2012\/04\/emu-mourns-loss-of-student\/\">Theodore (Theo) Brian Yoder<\/a>, who would have been among these graduates if he had not died at age 22 on April 12, 2012, after a 12-year battle with various cancers.<\/p>\n<p>The undergraduate class raised funds, including matching funds from Bibb and Dolly Frazier of Frazier Quarry, to install Wi-Fi printers in the residence halls as their class gift.<\/p>\n<p>To listen to the full commencement exercise visit <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/podcast\/category\/commencement\/\">emu.edu\/now\/podcast\/category\/commencement\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A full gallery of photos from commencement is posted at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/photos\/commencement-2012\/\">emu.edu\/photos\/commencement-2012\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Commencement speaker Abigail Disney asked the graduates of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) to support a greater role for women in the political arena, particularly in peace negotiations. If more women <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":12554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,5583,14184,5185,5642,264,5623,4513,5730],"tags":[13766,5854,6069,5727],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-12550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-campus-community","category-campus-guests","category-campus-ministries","category-faculty-and-staff","category-graduate-programs","category-special-programs","category-student-life","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-abigail-disney","tag-commencement","tag-loren-swartzendruber","tag-office-of-the-president"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Commencement speaker Abigail Disney asked the graduates of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) to support a greater role for women in the political arena, particularly in peace negotiations. If more women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-30T14:44:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-05-11T13:58:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"925\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/\",\"name\":\"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-30T14:44:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-05-11T13:58:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg\",\"width\":\"1525\",\"height\":\"925\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding - EMU News","og_description":"Commencement speaker Abigail Disney asked the graduates of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) to support a greater role for women in the political arena, particularly in peace negotiations. If more women","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2012-04-30T14:44:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-05-11T13:58:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1525,"height":925,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/","name":"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-30T14:44:31+00:00","dateModified":"2012-05-11T13:58:58+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2012\/04\/IMG_2926_commencement_web.jpg","width":"1525","height":"925"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/disney-evokes-peacebuilding-in-grad-speech\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Disney Urges Larger Role for Women in Peacebuilding"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12550"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12745,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550\/revisions\/12745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12550"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=12550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}