Archbishop Tutu's visit to Hartford on May 20 and 21 was an inspiration to all of us associated with the World Youth Peace Summit. Among the gifts the Archbishop brought to Hartford was his sense of inner peace, a quality he has cultivated despite the many traumatic experiences he has faced throughout his exemplary life.
The weekend turned out to be the perfect prelude to the World Scholar-Athlete Games and World Youth Peace Summit and, of course, to the opening of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship.
There are so many aspects of the World Scholar-Athlete Games and Summit that excite me. Let me share two examples:
World Scholar-Athlete Games – The First Night
Our first gathering on the evening of June 26 will be a special one. The World Scholar-Athlete Games Team and I will set the course for the future of peace making initiatives that will spring forth from the World Scholar-Athlete Games and World Youth Peace Summit.
Here is a sampling of what participants can expect on that first night:
- Alumni of the World Scholar-Athlete Games, dating back to the inaugural World Scholar-Athlete Games in 1993, will be present to share their views on what the World Scholar-Athlete Games has meant to them. These graduates will also express their hope that the 2011 participants will make a strong commitment to world peace.
- I will talk about the various ways you can create projects, large or small, that will foster world peace. I will also share details on the creation of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship that will open in August. It will be this Center that will help participants forge ahead with your peace projects. Others around the world will also be welcome to work with the Center to develop peace projects.
- Several 2011 World Scholar-Athlete Games scholar-athletes and scholar-artists will be invited to the podium to share their thoughts on what they hope to do for world peace. At the conclusion of the program, small group discussions will take place throughout the University of Hartford. You will have the opportunity to meet fellow participants and share ideas.
We look upon First Night as historic in many ways. It will be our first opportunity to begin to work with you as we move forward with what we are confident will be the development a great many peace initiatives on a global scale.
We cannot wait to see you on June 26!
World Youth Peace Summit - The Voices of Women
One of the most impressive outcomes of Title IX is that the legislation opened the doors to women to enter the field of sport as professionals in a variety of areas, including as coaches and administrators. As a result, the industry is much better off. There is better policy, better writing, and infinitely more enlightened thinking on ways that we can use sport as a means to educate.
Which leads me to world peace.
When I was at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in the early 80’s, I recall one of my professors making the following statement, “Of the people in our world making decisions on peace and war, less than 2% are women.”
Regrettably, that statistic has not changed very much. One of the most important objectives of the World Youth Peace Summit and subsequent opening of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship is to give women a greater voice in the peace process. The first step in meeting this objective will occur on Saturday, July 2 in a panel entitled, “Voices of Women.” Following this panel, we are already in the planning stages of a symposium for spring 2012 to specifically focus on this important issue.
Please keep an eye on our website, www.youthpeacesummit.org and please consider attending the World Youth Peace Summit.