KSU Trumbull student organizes virtual May 4 peace panels – On the heels of a year plagued by a global pandemic, a combative presidential election, rising violence in the form of mass shootings, and an increased awareness of social inequities and injustice, Kent State Trumbull senior English student Valerie Dalrymple decided to do something positive. In January she began planning “It Starts with You: Promoting Peace and Civil Discourse in Our Lives.”
The free and virtual event will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4. Dalrymple chose May 4 because of its historical connection to the May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State University.
“In politics, social media, and even our personal lives, people are working to hurt others through humiliation, ostracization, threats, and even physical violence,” Dalrymple said. “May 4 represents a horrible day in our school and national history, but it also reflects a day where we can do something about the hatred and help shift the conversation from one of destruction to one of mutual respect, mutual compassion, and mutual understanding.”
To pull the event together, Dalrymple enlisted the advice and help of Trumbull faculty members Drs. Carol Robinson and Ana Wetzl, as well as Interim Dean Daniel Palmer.
“Valerie came to me in January, wanting to create an event that promotes peace,” Robinson said. “We involved Dr. Wetzl and Dr. Palmer in discussions of various ideas. We were all eager to help pull this together, I think, because there seems to be a need for equipping people with tools for spreading kindness and hope against cruelty and oppression.”
The event will take place in two parts. First is “Hearing the Voice of the Other: Finding a Small Patch of Common Ground to Listen and Talk to Each Other,” a panel will discuss using rhetoric and/or other forms of communication in response to antagonistic and other hateful rhetoric, to deescalate hateful situations. and to peacefully promote constructive discourse. The audience will have a chance to ask questions at the conclusion.
Dr. Daniel Palmer, Kent State Trumbull’s interim dean will moderate the panel, which consists of the following professionals:
- Dr. N.J. Akbar, associate vice president, Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Kent State University;
- Dr. Molly Merryman, director, Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, Kent State University;
- Dr. Peter Byrne, associate professor, English, Kent State University at Trumbull;
- Lauren Lemley, instructor, American Sign Language, Kent State at University Trumbull.
Next, David Hassler, director of the Wick Poetry Center, will moderate and present “Poems of Peace and Conflict Transformation: An Interactive Presentation.”
Five poets will be featured, with their poems of peace, and then participate in a brief panel discussion about poetry and conflict transformation. This part of the event will conclude with Hassler discussing the Global Peace Poem Project, during which time participants can read out loud entries for this project.
“I believe that we can come together with open minds and open hearts to have intellectual, constructive discourse, and learn to cherish each other and our various views instead of hating,” Dalrymple said.
The event is free and open to all. For more information or to register, visit here.
Panel biographies
Dr. N. J. Akbar – Akbar, associate vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is primarily responsible for assisting with strategic planning, research, assessment, and student success initiatives for the division. Akbar has written awards and received many grants (TRIO McNair Scholars Program, Student Support Services, and many others) focused on completion and diverse student success. During his time at KSU, he has helped establish the academic diversity outreach network, Provost’’s Leadership Academy, EHHS’ Office of Diversity Outreach and Development, LGBTQ Student Center as the interim director, Male Empowerment Network as a founding member and former lead mentor, Linked Courses and Early Alert.
Dr. Molly Merryman – Merryman is the founding director of Kent State University’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality. Her written research and award-winning documentary films explore topics of social inequalities, with a particular focus on issues around gender, sexuality, and race. She is the director and executive producer of more than a dozen short and feature-length documentaries, including two broadcast documentaries made in the classroom with undergraduate students. Her documentaries have been broadcast on regional PBS and on cable stations in the United Kingdom and U.S., and they have received multiple awards including three regional Emmys. The films have also screened internationally at film festivals, scholarly conferences, art and history museum exhibitions, and universities.
Dr. Peter Byrne – Byrne is associate professor of English at Kent State Trumbull. He received his Ph.D. in English at University of California Irvine in 2004, and has published and presented on various topics, including Shakespeare, Dryden, and the role of genre in performance. He teaches British Renaissance literature, including influences brought in from the Classical Era (of Ancient Greece and Rome). He is an expert in Classical Rhetoric. For 10 years, Byrne served as Artist in Residence for Shakespeare Theatre (Washington, D.C.), writing production notes for various performances, and composing plays for their annual fundraiser. He serves as Kent Trumbull Theatre’s resident faculty actor.
Prof. Lauren Lemley – Lemley has been teaching American Sign Language (ASL) at Kent State Trumbull (part time) and Girard Senior High School (full time) since 2015. She was a KSU Trumbull student before transferring to the Kent campus. She was involved in two of the four ASL/English productions done at Kent Trumbull Theatre: “ANOTHER Christmas Carol” (co-producer, co-assistant director, actor, 2017) and “See No Beast, Hear No Beast, Speak No Beast” (head sign master). She has been deaf since the age of two.
David Hassler – Hassler directs the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University. He is the author of two books of poems, including “Red Kimono, Yellow Barn,” for which he was awarded Ohio Poet of the Year 2006. He is co-editor of the forthcoming book “Speak a Powerful Magic: Ten Years of the Traveling Stanzas Poetry Project,” published in 2019 by the Kent State University Press. His play, “May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970,” based on the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project, was published in 2013 by the Kent State University Press along with a Teacher’s Resource Book. A filmed version of the play that he co-produced received the 2014 Oral History Association’s Nonprint Format Award. With photographer Gary Harwood, he is the author of the documentary book titled “Growing Season: The Life of a Migrant Community,” which received the Ohioana Book Award and the Carter G. Woodson Honor Book Award and was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award. With Maggie Anderson, he is co-editor of “Learning by Heart: Contemporary American Poetry About School“ and “After the Bell: Contemporary American Prose About School.” He received a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University. His TEDx talk, “The Conversation of Poetry,” covers the power of poetry to strengthen communities.
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