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Twenty years ago, a gay university student in Laramie, Wyoming, was driven to the outskirts of town. He was beaten, robbed, tied to a fence, and left to die. For 18 hours, Matthew Shepard hung bleeding, in near-freezing temperatures. The passing cyclist who found him thought at first that he was a scarecrow. He spent several days in a coma in hospital before dying.

A crowd of old friends and alumni as well as people interested in Restorative Justice filled the Grebel Gallery on October 11 to hear from Dean Peachey. He reflected on the seeds of peace that were sown during the 25 years he and his wife Missy Miller spent in Kitchener-Waterloo. As Grebel's 2018 Distinguished Alumni Service Award winner, Peachey returned to the College to take part in a discussion entitled "Backward/Forward: Reflections on Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights” with Peace and Conflict Studies professor Reina Neufeldt.

At the beginning of the school year, students, staff, and faculty at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, ON took a deep breath and sang together – first in unison, and then in several different parts to build a new melody. The piece called “We all Sing” was written by Grebel Professor Karen Sunabacka and commissioned for the College’s 2018-19 integration initiative. This year marks the fourth year that Grebel has intentionally planned a year-long series of activities intended to offer meaningful ways for the different people and programs of Grebel to interact with one another, and with the University of Waterloo and the broader community.

Dean Peachey is a familiar face to many Grebelites. Initially he spent only his third year of university at Grebel (1974-75), participating actively as a resident. After graduating from Eastern Mennonite College, in Virginia, Peachey’s positive experience at Grebel and Waterloo brought him back in 1978 for graduate studies. While studying, he served as Senior Resident with his wife Melissa Miller (1978-1980).

Conrad Grebel University College is pleased to announce an exciting series of public lectures set for 2018-19, on a wide range of topics that reflect the College’s areas of interest and expertise.

What is beauty and why is it important? How do human rights and humanitarian law preserve peace? How do gender politics influence the global foodscape? Why has the Bible inspired so much violence? How did religious conflicts affect worship? How do social trends impact the art of sound? What can we learn from great musical works?

These questions are just a taste of what Grebel professors will explore with their students this fall.

This summer, youth in the Waterloo Region will be discovering community through peace. Running for its eighth year, Peace Camp is a day camp at Conrad Grebel University College, and is a collaborative initiative of the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement, Silver Lake Mennonite Camp ,and The Ripple Effect Education.

Peace is not an absence of war, but the living process of freely interacting with others across borders seeking to understand their values and perspective, while striving for justice and truth.

Professor Troy Osborne, associate professor of History at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo, has been selected as Grebel’s new dean, beginning January 1, 2019.

Conrad Grebel University College is pleased to have nominated Setsuko Thurlow for an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) from the University of Waterloo for her outstanding contribution to society as an advocate for peace and nuclear disarmament.