Peace Pole Dedication at the annual Virginia Cottage ice cream social, — Richmond Indiana-USA

September 20th, 2013

Earlham’s College Peace Pole is a joint project of the Newlin Center for Quaker Thought and Practice and the Office of Religious Life, both of which are housed in Virginia Cottage.

“Working toward peace in the world is one of our main motives for educating our students and community,” says Kelly Burk, director of the Office of Religious Life. “This is a visible sign to the campus of what we do in the building and what our work is.”

The Peace Pole has four sides, and each side says “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in two languages in the following languages: English, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Japanese, Tibetan, Spanish and Swahili.

“We consulted the religion department to tie the languages represented to religious diversity,” says Burk.

Earlham’s Peace Pole is situated just outside the Virginia Cottage in a newly planted Peace Garden, complete with a bench and wind chimes.

The Virginia Cottage ice cream social and dedication are part of Earlham’s yearlong initiative promoting interfaith relations.

Denise Purcell

Media Relations Associate
Earlham College,

Richmond, Indiana-USA