2008 Woodie Awards
Big and pink and makes you think...
Retired MJC professor moves hearts with his memorial in the East Campus library
Donald Bunce
Issue date: 9/14/06 Section: News
By Don Bunce
Staff Reporter
It's really big. It's also pink. Really pink. And if you were walking through the Modesto Junior College east campus library on autopilot recently, you
probably ran headfirst into it.
If so, you received a close-up look at the brainchild of retired professor Dan Onorato and MJC sociology professor Sandra Woodside. The Wall of Hope is a combination of quotes and photos from famous (and some not so famous) people, with descriptions of some of their achievements in the civil rights and non-violence movements. With both instructors collaborating on this project as part of a combined teaching effort last spring, the wall took shape and was eventually placed in the library over the summer of 2006, with its creators hoping to foster discussion.
Onorato, an activist in local organizations such as the Modesto Peace/Life Center, realized that many of the people profiled on the wall are unfamiliar to most of the students, with many recognizing a third of them at most. But he points out that just because you don't recognize them doesn't mean these people aren't important. "The people that inspire us are not the ones who get the most attention in the newspaper," he said. "People are all too quickly writing off things like violence in the world…this shows it doesn't have to be that way."
He sees this project as a fulfillment of an aspiration he has had over the years, namely to teach nonviolence. In the current politically charged atmosphere, he believes that we are not engaging in discussion with the people who oppose us, and that we need to "transcend the immediate reaction of fear," when dealing with others. When asked if war was justifiable sometimes, he said, "Drastic action sometimes needs to be taken to protect innocent people, which means police actions are sometimes necessary-but I haven't seen a just war in my lifetime." The Wall of Hope, and the people profiled on it, is a reminder that non-violence does not mean being passive about one's beliefs.
Regardless of a person's political ideas, the Wall of Hope deserves to be recognized as not only the culmination of a professor's dream, but as something that could serve as an instigator of debate. Stop by the wall and read about someone you don't know about. It just might surprise you-and get you thinking in the process.
The Wall of Hope is currently in the MJC East Campus library and will be there through the Fall 2006 semester.
Staff Reporter
It's really big. It's also pink. Really pink. And if you were walking through the Modesto Junior College east campus library on autopilot recently, you
probably ran headfirst into it.
If so, you received a close-up look at the brainchild of retired professor Dan Onorato and MJC sociology professor Sandra Woodside. The Wall of Hope is a combination of quotes and photos from famous (and some not so famous) people, with descriptions of some of their achievements in the civil rights and non-violence movements. With both instructors collaborating on this project as part of a combined teaching effort last spring, the wall took shape and was eventually placed in the library over the summer of 2006, with its creators hoping to foster discussion.
Onorato, an activist in local organizations such as the Modesto Peace/Life Center, realized that many of the people profiled on the wall are unfamiliar to most of the students, with many recognizing a third of them at most. But he points out that just because you don't recognize them doesn't mean these people aren't important. "The people that inspire us are not the ones who get the most attention in the newspaper," he said. "People are all too quickly writing off things like violence in the world…this shows it doesn't have to be that way."
He sees this project as a fulfillment of an aspiration he has had over the years, namely to teach nonviolence. In the current politically charged atmosphere, he believes that we are not engaging in discussion with the people who oppose us, and that we need to "transcend the immediate reaction of fear," when dealing with others. When asked if war was justifiable sometimes, he said, "Drastic action sometimes needs to be taken to protect innocent people, which means police actions are sometimes necessary-but I haven't seen a just war in my lifetime." The Wall of Hope, and the people profiled on it, is a reminder that non-violence does not mean being passive about one's beliefs.
Regardless of a person's political ideas, the Wall of Hope deserves to be recognized as not only the culmination of a professor's dream, but as something that could serve as an instigator of debate. Stop by the wall and read about someone you don't know about. It just might surprise you-and get you thinking in the process.
The Wall of Hope is currently in the MJC East Campus library and will be there through the Fall 2006 semester.