Two new SSU campus memorials focus on peace
Sonoma State University is now home to two more tributes to peace on earth.
A campus Peace Ceremony on Tuesday, October 28 drew more than 100 students, faculty, staff, and community members to the campus Main Quad, where three new Peace Trees were officially planted and a Rotary Peace Pole formally unveiled.
“This is a very momentous occasion for those of us at Sonoma State and, I think, our larger community in Sonoma County,” said Emily Cutrer, Sonoma State interim president. “As we all know, peace won’t happen – in fact, nothing good happens – unless people work together.
“I would like to once again thank the people, who in groups and in community made the Peace Trees and the Peace Pole come here to Sonoma State,” Cutrer said, calling the two new campus landmarks “a powerful testament to their efforts and to the cause of peace itself.”
The Hiroshima Peace Trees represent a commitment “to creating a memorial for all nuclear victims by nurturing the trees into symbols of resilience and peace,” according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Sonoma State and the Peace Crane Project Sonoma County.
The Peace Crane Project obtained seeds descended from a gingko (Gingko biloba) tree that survived the Hiroshima bombing in 1945 (referred to as the Hiroshima Peace Tree) that were then planted and grown at the Sonoma Botanical Garden. The seedlings, now about six years old, were planted by the SSU Landscaping staff and will be cared for as part of standard campus maintenance.
“Our mission is committed to creating a world free of nuclear weapons, where people can learn to live together in harmony and peace,” said Phyllis Tajii of the Peace Crane Project. “May these trees, and the Peace Pole, be a reminder that peace continues to be something worth pursuing.”
The design for the location of the trees was created by a Sonoma State student, Cheyenne Bryant, who is studying Urban Planning and works with the campus Landscaping team. Bryant was on hand Tuesday to help plant the final tree during the ceremony, and took part in selecting and installing additional landscaping features that compliment the trees, including Sonoma fieldstones from Paradise Ridge Winery.
The Peace Pole, a project of SSU’s Rotaract Club (a campus chapter of the Rotary Club) features the message ”May Peace Prevail on Earth,” written on the eight-foot pole in eight languages: English, Spanish, Pomo, Chinese, Tagalog, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Russian.
According to the MOU between SSU’s Rotaract Club and the university, the Peace Pole will “provide an opportunity for educating students, faculty, and the general public regarding peace on Earth … bringing people together to inspire, awaken, and uplift the human consciousness about the world around us.”
“Peace isn’t one size fits all,” said Dulce Maria Leon, past president of the SSU Rotaract Club. “It looks different to each person and every community, but the wish is always the same: a world where people feel safe, respected and valued.”
Fred Ptucha, president of Sonoma County Veterans for Peace, served four tours in Vietnam with the Navy. Five years ago, Veterans for Peace partnered with Rotary with the goal of dedicating Peace Poles at schools in the area. To date, 85 such poles have gone up at Sonoma County elementary, middle and high schools – and now at Sonoma State.
“It’s the idea that a tangible symbol of peace can be something the students see as part of their everyday time in school (and) that will help make peace possible,” Ptucha said.
The Peace Ceremony was emceed by Gerard Giudice, mayor of Rohnert Park, and included additional remarks from Troi Carleton, dean of SSU’s College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts, and SSU Study Abroad student Nayeli Nuno-Ledezma. Among the many in attendance were mayors Ben Ford of Cotati and Mark Stapp of Santa Rosa, as well as Takeshi Ishihara, Deputy Consul General for the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco.