UIW Promotes Peace and Justice at Peace Day 2024

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, UIW hosted its annual Peace Day event, a celebration that embraces peace in the hopes of promoting justice for all. The event was first started at UIW in 1986 when the University hosted “Peace Fairs." It has since evolved into a day-long event that welcomes guests from the UIW community and beyond to share how they are intentionally acting in pursuit of their shared goal of peace.

This year’s event, led by Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, CCVI, showcased a number of events that demonstrated the local and global initiatives taken to better foster peace all around the globe. Some of the activities highlighted how San Antonio and other cities are making efforts to nurture compassion within their areas, exploring how biodiversity and sustainability contributes towards fostering environmental peace and how social justice can be taught through world literature.

“The University has a very strong history of peace initiatives and advocacy for peace, and we have CCVI sisters who have been a leading example of this,” shared Teofilo Reyes Jr., assistant director of Leadership and Global Engagement. “They have been unapologetic advocates for vulnerable populations.”

Reyes shared at Peace Day that he recently participated in the 2024 World Summit for Nobel Laureates for Peace, where he joined other global speakers in Monterrey, Mexico. They gathered together to hear various perspectives on how peace is exhibited and can continue to be shown internationally.

Reyes shared that he hopes that the insight and knowledge he and his fellow participants gained at the summit will help to better influence how UIW can continue to make efforts towards peace.

“When we came back, we grew a little bit more in our global lens and closer to our University values of faith, education, innovation, service and truth. Now is the time to consider how we use our Mission to guide us and how to adopt a more critical lens of compassion and dignity for the populations that we serve,” explained Reyes.

Additionally, Dr. Ana Carla Cepeda Lopez, UIW assistant professor, and her Nutrition students prepared a culturally diverse lunch for attendees, welcoming community members to have a seat at the table to listen, learn and converse with one another.

It was a day dedicated to recognizing the notable strides already made at and beyond UIW and considering how to further achieve a world that is accepting, supporting and embracing of all God’s children.