July 1, 2009 – News & Views

OWU Chaplain Jon Powers (right) participated on a panel with David Ahearn of LaGrange College and Jody Horn of Oklahoma City University at the United Methodist Higher Education Institute Annual Conference in Texas in June.

Photo courtesy of the United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry

Ohio Wesleyan at Forefront of Methodist College Global Strategy
Chaplain Jon Powers presents OWU initiatives at national conference

Three major initiatives at Ohio Wesleyan University obtained national attention when presented at the United Methodist Higher Education Institute’s annual conference in June by OWU Chaplain Jon Powers. This year’s theme was “Pedagogy for Peace: Educating Moral Leaders in a Violent World.”

Ohio Wesleyan is undertaking three projects that support the national initiative—projects that fit well with the university’s newly adopted strategic plan to stress global vision, collaborative projects involving multiple OWU offices and departments, and opportunities for OWU students to learn theory and then put their newfound knowledge into practice.

OWU initiatives shared at the conference with representatives of 123 United Methodist Church-related colleges include the Partnership of Peace interdisciplinary partnership program with Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo (for the coming school year), the Channeling Peace Initiative (with OWU students David Gatz ’10 and Usman Javaid ’10 swimming the English Channel this summer to promote U.S.-Pakistan relations while raising money for medical assistance in Pakistan), and the Annual OWU Spring Break Mission Teams.

“We are linking Ohio Wesleyan’s mission with the national vision of the United Methodist Colleges,” Powers says. “We are at the forefront of an international global initiative, which provides a perfect fit for our students in terms of research and co-curricular opportunities.”

Powers says participants at the conference were so inspired by the positive interaction and collaborative efforts, that they remained active and engaged throughout all workshops. The groundwork is being laid for major global initiatives that will involve staff and faculty from the 775 Methodist schools, colleges and universities worldwide to educate students to become tomorrow’s leaders with the capacity to prevent, reduce, and transform violent conflict.

While sharing information about Ohio Wesleyan’s programs, Powers distributed copies of Connect2 OWU stories outlining the Partnership of Peace and Channeling Peace Initiative. Look for more news on these topics in future editions of Connect2 OWU.

– Linda O’Horo