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Dr. Dick Bennett announced last week that a Peace and Justice
Center is to open in Northwest Arkansas. According to Bennett,
a retired English professor from the UA, the Center will focus
on human rights and environmental issues both locally and
around the world.
Bennett, who spoke to an audience of around 25 at the monthly
meeting of the Washington County Green Party, said that a
Peace and Justice Center is necessary to bring together several
local groups working on similar issues. He said the center
would give area activists and organizers a chance to share
ideas and coordinate projects.
Dianna Shiell, director of the Northwest Arkansas Multicultural
Center, who also spoke at the event, agreed. "There's
a need for a physical center to act as a headquarters, a meeting
place for those who share the same kinds of concerns,"
she said.
Bennett talked of several area groups that would benefit from
a Peace and Justice Center. His list included such organizations
as the Military-Corporate Complex Project, Countering Militarism
and Corporate Recruiting in the Schools, the Sierra Club,
Arkansas Holocaust Education Committee, Parents and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays, the Campus Democracy Collective and
the Society of Friends. Many of these groups spoke at the
event.
Bennett said that the Center would not only act as a meeting
place for area groups but its presence would also help to
counter some of the homages to violence found in the area.
"There
are lots of places in Northwest Arkansas honoring war: military
cemeteries, battlefields, war memorials, but not many dedicated
to peace," he said.
According to Bennett, the center will be opened as soon as
a location is found. "A possible location is the basement
of Campus Ministries," Bennett said. "We're still
working it out with them."
Bennett said members of various community organizations have
volunteered to staff the center. More volunteers are needed,
he added. To volunteer at the Center or for more information,
you can contact Dr. Bennett at jbennet@uark.edu
or call 442-4600. You can also checkout his website at comp.uark.edu/~jbennet.
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