"Striving for Peace: The Impact of One"

This past weekend, Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, hosted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Forum honoring the 2005 Peace Prize recipients the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei.

The theme of this year's Forum was "Striving for Peace: The Impact of One." The weekend's highlight was the closing plenary speech by Dr. ElBaradei's speechwriter. It was inspiring, and I'm not an easy critic.

I attended the Forum to participate on an alumni panel of representatives of the five sponsoring colleges to share careers for the common good and "The Impact of One." The panel was moderated by Jonathan Henkes, Vice President for Advancement at Augustana College. Panelists included Dr. Cyndi Jones, Senior Technical Advisor for Nuclear Security at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Augsburg); Dr. Jarret Brachman, Professor and Director of Research for the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy (Augustana); Dr. Rein Uritam, Professor of Physics at Boston College (Concordia); and little 'ole me (Luther).

The weekend wove in a musical presentation and concert by Brulé and AIRO, one of the top-selling Native American recording artists. Now normally this might not be my type of music, but it was a really neat group and music genre.

Host Augustana College is in an area rich with Native American history. The 2007 Forum Poster features "Buffalo Woman," a painting by Colorado artist Willow Arlenea. The Lakota (Sioux) Nation has passed down the "The Legend of the White Buffalo"--a story now approximately 2,000 years old--at council meetings, sacred ceremonies, and through the tribe's storytellers. There are many variations on the legend, but all are tied to a central theme - when one white buffalo is born and lives to maturity, then there will be peace and harmony throughout the nations. White Buffalo are sacred amongst native peoples.

Here's a little background about the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.