1. President’s address is at 3 p.m. today

Marquette President Robert A. Wild, S.J., will give his annual President’s Address today, Feb. 3, at 3 p.m. in the Monaghan Ballroom of the Alumni Memorial Union. A reception will follow.

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2. Mission Week keynote address will be simulcast

Tickets for Dr. Shirin Ebadi's Mission Week keynote address, "Human Rights and the Consequences of Faith," Thursday, Feb. 5, at 4 p.m. are no longer available. Individuals interested in tickets can put their name on a waiting list in Brooks Lounge, AMU. Ebadi's speech will be simulcast in AMU. No tickets are necessary to attend the simulcast.

Anyone with tickets that won’t be used should turn them in to Brooks Lounge or the Office of Mission and Identity so they can be redistributed.

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3. The Color of Paradise movie playing tonight

The Department of Theology will host a Mission Week showing of The Color of Paradise at 7 p.m., today, Feb. 3, in Cudahy 001. The story is about Mohammad, an 8-year-old blind boy who is a live-in student at a school for the blind in Tehran, contrasting Mohammad’s ability to observe the world around him with his inability to see.

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4. Pulitzer Prize winner to lecture about media ethics

Clarence Page, a Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist from the Chicago Tribune, will deliver the William R. Burleigh Media Ethics Lecture tomorrow, Feb. 4, at 4 p.m. His Mission Week lecture, “‘Media Ethics’ Is Not A Contradiction,” will take place in the Monaghan Ballroom, AMU.

The lecture is sponsored by the J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication.

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5. RSVP for Repairers of the Breach lunch by tomorrow

All faculty and staff are invited to Repairers of the Breach Brown Bag Lunch and Scripture sharing on Fridays, Feb. 6, March 13, April 17, May 8 and June 5, for a light lunch, faith sharing and community with members of the Repairers of the Breach day shelter run by and for the homeless of Milwaukee. All faith traditions are welcome. A van will leave the Faber Center at 11:45 a.m. and return by 1 p.m. RSVP to the Faber Center at 8-4545, by Wednesday, Feb. 4, for the Feb. 6 Mission Week date.

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6. Historical society director to speak about civil rights

Clayborn Benson, founder and executive director of the Milwaukee Black Historical Society, will speak about the history of civil rights in Milwaukee and the role of the Catholic Church at a Mission Week Soup with Substance, “The Consequences of Faith for Civil Rights in Milwaukee.” The program will take place from noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 4, in AMU 227. A simple meal of soup and bread will be served. The event is sponsored by Campus Ministry, the Human Rights Initiative and the Law School.

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7. Campus women invited to enjoy poetry and chocolate

A “Women’s Prayer and Poetry (and CHOCOLATE!)” Mission Week event Wednesday, Feb. 4, will feature a public reading of women’s prayer, poetry and fair trade coffee and chocolate samples. The event will be held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in AMU 407.

Participants will explore readings from the contemplative traditions of many world religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

The program is sponsored by the Office of Student Development, the Faber Center for Ignatian Spirituality and the Office of International Education.

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8. Award-winning Persepolis movie being shown

The Office of International Education and Office of Student Development will sponsor a Mission Week showing of Persepolis tomorrow, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. in Cudahy 001.

This award-winning film version of the graphic illustrated novel depicts Marjane Satrapi’s life after she leaves Iran for France, her homecoming (both joyful and terrifying), and her subsequent self-imposed exile from her homeland.

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9. A Mission Week daily reflection — Dhwani Rawal

Bomb blasts, school shootings, serial killings, random acts of kindness, putting self in danger for someone else, or doing work for the betterment of humanity all happen in one world. Why do each of these things and others happen; what is the motivation behind the bad acts and good acts? People have claimed some of the bad acts as following God’s word; however, I know the good acts are truly done in the name of God.

Being of Hindu faith I am taught to do as much good as I possibly can without harming myself. Lord Krishna decided to take human form and come to the world and teach the people to love everyone. He said not to love just your family and friends but love those around you, especially your enemies. When I read a specific part of the Holy Scripture known as the Bhagavad Gita, I was in tears reading about Lord Krishna’s struggle to avoid fighting. Lord Krishna, a powerful Hindu God, gets on his knees, joins his hands with tears in his eyes and literally begs; he begs the opponents to sit down and talk about their problems instead of going to the battlefield. He explains how no good will come from this and everyone will be left alone and lonely after it is over, but human nature decided to challenge the Lord. Humans caused evil and bloodshed on this earth; God did not plan any of this evil.

Remembering my Lord Krishna on his knees begging humanity not to fight brings me also to my knees. However, if Lord Krishna’s words were not heard, how can a 21-year-old college student’s word get heard? I cannot just talk; I must act. That is exactly why I am a part of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking. I try to do all the good I can because words are just not enough, even if they are the words of the Lord in flesh. Some of the things that we do at the Center include praying for the people living without peace, bringing in speakers who have worked with making peace in the world, getting students on the Marquette campus to understand what is going on around the world, and sending students to different places in our country and our world to work with people who are actively, nonviolently making peace. Those are just some of the projects that are currently in the works at the Center. All those projects are trying to inform people about the world that we live in and how we all need to act to make it better, not by fighting, but with peace in one hand and love in the other. I am involved with these projects because my faith in God, in humanity, and in myself tell me that it is the right thing to do.

Working at the Center for Peacemaking is the most rewarding experience I have had at Marquette University. I work there and participate in the activities because of my faith in God and my understanding of what Lord Krishna came down to earth to teach. I strongly believe that God has given all of us freedom to do what we choose. And I choose to promote love and peace in the world, because we are all people of God and God deeply desires peace and love for all of His children.

~ Dhwani Rawal
sophomore, College of Health Sciences

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