Rotary Peace Fellows Update
The 2009-2010 District 5790 Rotary World Peace Fellowships Committee nominated two young men to the Rotary Foundation for 2010 Peace Fellowships. The two nominees are Cody S. Griggers from the Rotary Club of Dublin, TX who was nominated by Rotarian Karen Wright. Andy Keith Richardson from the Rotary Club of Denton who was nominated by Eva Poole. The Committee is pleased with both nominations!
2008-2010 Rotary World Peace Fellow Jay R. Gilliam
Jay Gilliam, the Peace Fellow from District 5790, completed his first year at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan. Jay's five Winter 2008 courses were: Human Rights, Anthropology of Violence, Peace Studies I, Globalization and Migration, and International Politics. His four spring 2009 courses were: International Relations, Comparative Politics and Government, Peace Studies II, and Intercultural Decision Making.
Outside of the classroom, his class kept busy organizing peace forums and trainings for the ICU campus. In spring 2009, they hosted five peace forums.
Between the winter and spring term, Jay's class headed south to visit Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum. They toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and had the opportunity to visit two peace research institutes (Hiroshima Peace Institute and Hiroshima Peace Builders Center) as well as listen to an atomic bomb survivor from Hiroshima who was a 16 year old student at the time.
After visiting Hiroshima, Jay explored opportunities for his summer 2009 Applied Field Experience (AFE) and ultimately decided to go to Peace Boat, a Japanese nonprofit organization at the forefront at organizing Japanese and global citizens around not altering the Japanese pacifist constitution and promoting it as a standard for other countries.
Lastly, Jay was able to further develop his relationship with Rotary both in Japan and back home. In Japan, he attended Tokyo Setagaya South Rotary Club meetings. Back home he traveled to Austin to participate in District 5790's ASETS meeting where he spoke to Ambassadorial Scholars about his initial year as a World Peace Fellow. The Rotary Club of Arlington who nominated Jay and District 5790 are proud of his passion for peace!
District 5790 RWPF Committee Looks to 2011
In the spring of 2010, your District Committee will begin the process of seeking 2011 Rotary World Peace Fellowship candidates. For questions and possible candidates, please contact members of the District 5790 RWPF Committee: DG John Miller, IPDG Jerry Parr, DGE Paul Lucas, PDG/District Foundation Chair Dan Morales, PDG Paul Geisel, PP Lisann Peters, and Jim C Quick, Chair.
—-Submitted by Jim Quick, Rotary 5790 Peace Fellows Chair
Jim Quick is a member of Great Southwest Rotary Club in Arlington. Jim is 2009-2010 Chair of Rotary Peace Fellow Scholar Committee. He can be reached by e-mail at: jquick@uta.edu