Pasco-Hernando State College hosted its 11th annual Peace Week Celebration from Sept. 24 to Sept. 28.
The event — held on college’s campuses Dade City, Brooksville, Wesley Chapel, Spring Hill and New Port Richey — celebrated a theme of unity.
The intent was to bring participants together — to embrace each other’s differences and to stand up for what is right.
The weeklong celebration was open to faculty, students and the community, offering outdoor food, music, yoga classes, lectures and a workshop with Buddhist monks.
Laura Raposa, a Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) coordinator at the Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel, said the week offered the opportunity for important discussions about various issues.
The idea behind the annual celebration is to give students and those in the community a platform to express themselves on what they think matters, said Raposa, now in her third year of Peace Week at PHSC.
“We really wanted to do something that was important today and signified where we want to be,” she said of the agenda for Peace Week.
Mason Fitzpatrick, a transgender man, visited PHSC’s different branches to explain his journey in a lecture series called “Stand Together.”
In addressing the audience, he aimed to improve understanding about the identity issues that come with wanting a transition.
Pasco Sheriff’s Cpl. Alan Wilkett made stops at several campuses for “Coffee with a Cop.” His talk focused on the global issue of human trafficking and ways people can help identify a victim in need.
Members of Bikers Against Child Abuse also spoke in a segment called “A Mission of Love.” Their talk focused on how to better support child abuse victims, especially when the victims must testify in court.
Like the other PHSC branches, Wesley Chapel’s Porter Campus held an outdoor Unity Festival including a drum circle, which invited the public’s participation.
Those attending festivities at the Porter Campus also were able to create custom-made tie-dye shirts and framed paintings.
As is traditional, the state college plans to have a day in spring where everyone on campus wears their tie-dye shirts to show solidarity.
Throughout the week, professors held workshops on the three Ps of peace: Professional, personal and public. These sessions covered how to maintain a healthy balance in the different areas of one’s own life, while coexisting with others.
Another support network present at the event was the Porter Campus’ prayer group.
On the first day of the event, they had a booth set up outside, hosted by two sisters, Claudia and Marbelys Alvarez.
Now up to 20 members, the club meets once a week on campus for prayer and Bible study. It offers an environment to share thoughts and words of encouragement, the sisters said.
During Peace Week, the group’s booth was decorated with baskets of candy and neatly filed envelopes. Each envelope contained different passages of scripture to help brighten the readers’ day and offer hope for the future.
“This is just the beginning,” Claudia said, referring to the spiritual guidance
offered to those passing by.
“Your purpose [is] so big, bigger than just a career, and that’s what I want students to get,” she said.
Published October 10, 2018
