{"id":40305,"date":"2018-10-31T08:59:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T12:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=40305"},"modified":"2019-01-16T11:47:19","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T16:47:19","slug":"lobbyist-alum-engages-cjp-students-with-d-c-policymakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/lobbyist-alum-engages-cjp-students-with-d-c-policymakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Lobbyist alum engages CJP students with D.C. policymakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though the odds against peacebuilding can seem stacked, Theo Sitther, a lobbyist for the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), has also seen consensus in Washington D.C. \u2013 this year, even.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a visit to campus earlier this month, the 2013 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s <\/span>Center for Justice and Peacebuilding<\/span><\/a> (CJP) \u2013 and former senior legislative associate at Mennonite Central Committee\u2019s Washington office for nearly seven years \u2013 described a national outlook that is disheartening, to say the least: <\/span><\/p>\n

Politicians, and the broader population, are becoming increasingly divided on issues; military spending has increased but diplomatic agencies have been left with unfilled staff positions; and the world is experiencing \u201ca massive \u2026 ballooning of humanitarian crises,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cEngaging with policymakers is absolutely vital to building a more peaceful, more just society, particularly in this moment in Washington,\u201d Sitther told CJP students, faculty and staff earlier this month.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And yet in July, legislation that FCNL helped to draft \u2013 the <\/span>Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act<\/span><\/a> \u2013 passed the House 406-5 and moved to the Senate, where Sitther hopes it will be passed before the end of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEngaging with policymakers is absolutely vital to building a more peaceful, more just society, particularly in this moment in Washington,\u201d Sitther told CJP students, faculty and staff earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

He returned to CJP to speak about his current work and describe <\/span>opportunities for involvement<\/span><\/a> with FCNL, the largest pro-peace lobbying group in Washington D.C. Those opportunities include its Advocacy Corps, Young Fellows Program and internships, as well as its annual <\/span>Spring Lobby Weekend<\/span><\/a>, which more than 50 CJP students have attended.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTheo\u2019s and FCNL\u2019s work has deeply engaged our students in a critical aspect of peacebuilding work \u2013 advocacy and lobbying,\u201d said <\/span>Amy Knorr<\/span><\/a>, CJP practice director. \u201cCJP is grateful for this partnership, and we celebrate our shared values.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quakers were historically involved in the abolishment of slavery, and founded FCNL 75 years ago to lobby Congress for a more peaceful and just society, said Sitther, which included advocating for civil rights and other causes. Its work on conflict prevention began after Congress authorized the president to invade Iraq 15 years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back then in Washington, \u201c<\/span>preventing<\/span><\/i> violent conflict was a foreign concept,\u201d he said, and so FCNL made it the focus of its lobbying efforts. \u201cPeople didn\u2019t realize that our State Department and USAID could design programs that would actually help work with communities to help prevent violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a student at CJP, Sitther said, he learned that conflict \u2013 in particular, violent conflict \u2013 is rooted in complexity, with no simple fixes. Instead, resolving conflicts requires \u201cbuilding mutually transformative relationships,\u201d institutions equipped with training and funding and, perhaps above all, long-term commitment \u2013 which often gets lost in short-term election cycles.<\/span><\/p>\n

But peacebuilding \u201ctakes time,\u201d he said \u2013 and consensus, which is how FCNL governs itself. It\u2019s a sometimes-messy process, but it serves as a hopeful model for Sitther\u2019s work on Capitol Hill where, he said, dialogue and conversations with people with whom he expects to disagree often exposes agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the most divisive relationships that you can find, you\u2019re going to find some common ground,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of our strategies has been, even where we can find just that ounce of agreement, we stake it out and make sure that we try to grow that common ground.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The passage of the Elie Wiesel Act, he said, shows the potential for progress, he said \u2013 \u201ceven in this most difficult political context.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though the odds against peacebuilding can seem stacked, Theo Sitther, a lobbyist for the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), has also seen consensus in Washington D.C. \u2013 this ... read more about Lobbyist alum engages CJP students with D.C. policymakers<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,14184,12503,17562,14145],"tags":[16563],"feature":[17427,17241],"class_list":["post-40305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-campus-guests","category-cjp","category-digest","category-peacebuilding-and-development","tag-amy-knorr","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nLobbyist alum engages CJP students with D.C. policymakers - 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\/2018\/lobbyist-alum-engages-cjp-students-with-d-c-policymakers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lobbyist alum engages CJP students with D.C. policymakers - 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