A new symbol of peace will stand in the Memorial Courtyard at the Fine Arts Building next fall.
During a ceremony Wednesday afternoon Student Association members, administrators and City representatives joined for the unveiling of a Peace Pole inscribed with the message “May peace prevail on earth” in eight different languages.
The pole was donated to Binghamton University last year as a gift from peace activist Arthur Romano after he visited BU last spring. Romano’s offering was part of a campaign in which he promoted the “planting” of peace poles all around the globe.
According to SA President David Bass, he and other Association members worked on the project for over a year between booking the initial speaker and trying to find the right location for the emblem.
“We’re thrilled that we’re able to leave something for the campus,” he said. ”I think the Peace Pole shows commitment to creating community out of a very diverse student body.”
The event drew around 40 people, and Bass spoke at the ceremony, in addition to Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Tarik Abdelazim and SA Vice President for Multicultural Affairs David Redbord, among others.
Last year’s Programming Board decided to use their cultural education budget, coupled with efforts from then-VPMA Bass, to bring Romano to campus, according to SA VP for Programming Board Sandi Dube. The speaker was a change in the use of the budget from previous years, in that the money was usually dispensed to individual groups but was instead used for something universal last year, she said.
“The peace program gave all student groups the opportunity to come together,” Dube said. “That’s why we’re really proud of the event, because it was the first opportunity we used it [the budget] in the way it was supposed to be used.”
Students worked to get equal representation of the world on the pole, according to Carla Gunther, Bass’s chief of staff last year. The languages on the pole include Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, French, Hausa and English.
Both Gunther and Redbord said the ceremony went very well.
“I think a lot of the ideas the speakers communicated were important and on-point,” Redbord said, specifically referring to Rose and what he called “inspiring” points about peace and the way students should think about it.
BU students are among the first who can effectively promote peace, Rose said.
“The planting of this Peace Pole on our campus not only symbolically unites us with millions of others who nonetheless yearn for peace, but also challenges us as individuals and the institution as a whole to work toward this most grand aspiration — peace on Earth,” Rose said. “It is only through education that the understanding necessary to achieve peace on Earth can be created.”
The pole goes beyond just a symbol for the campus, but also extends to the local area, said Abdelazim, who was present to speak on behalf of Ryan.
“It’s a reminder of how important it is to keep peace in mind in all of our relations and actions,” he said.
Abdelazim said that he wanted to emphasize from a municipal standpoint the importance of peace work, and that the mayor wished to commend the students for their work.