Peace and Justice Program - Meet Elsie

Elsie ’25 is no stranger to a challenge. At the end of her sophomore year, she already had a difficult course load as a double major with a minor. Her trip to Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland for the Peace and Justice Program’s Celtic May Term 2023 inspired her to dig even deeper.

“We studied the Troubles during our trip to Northern Ireland,” she explained. “Learning from those who have different experiences from me broadened my perspective of the world and taught me to have more empathy for those who have lived a different life than me.”

This realization led Elsie to add a peace and justice minor to her already challenging course load. Now, Elsie is a business and communication double major with minors in peace and justice and classics.

She’s been impressed with the wide depth of the program’s offerings. “I have enjoyed taking classes in leadership, women and gender studies, and religion, all which fall into the peace and justice minor. It is truly an interdisciplinary minor and I am so grateful for all that I have learned in my classes,” she said.

Elsie has noticed the faculty’s commitment to excellence in the program. “I’m especially grateful for Dr. Elizabeth Sharda’s wisdom,” she shared. “She encouraged me to add this minor after I returned from the Celtic May Term.”

She plans on utilizing her new minor immediately upon graduation. “I am planning on pursuing a master's in higher education and college student affairs. I think it is a field where there are issues of conflict and reconciliation, and I look forward to using my peace and justice skills there,” she explained.

Elsie is thankful for donors like you. “I am so grateful that Hope College and its donors have created a minor for peace and justice,” she said. “I think, given the division and resentment many people experience in today’s society, we need students who can incorporate the minor’s topics in all careers. And these classes create spaces for students to learn how to do that.”

Your gifts to the Peace and Justice Program will allow students like Elsie to affect positive change at Hope, domestically and abroad. You are providing opportunities for our world’s future leaders. Make your mark today by giving to the Peace and Justice Program.