Creating a Peaceful World for All: UIW Commemorates Peace Day 2025
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the University of the Incarnate Word hosted its annual Peace Day event, which promotes the bible’s central concepts of peace and justice. In 1986, Incarnated Word began hosting peace fairs, in which the institution’s peace pole monument was planted in honor of UIW launching its Master of Arts degree in Peace and Justice. Since then, these peace fairs have evolved into an entire month of events exploring how to create peace for all during the month of October, including the yearly hosting of Peace Day.
This year’s event included presentations from a variety of speakers, both in-person and virtually. Many presented on books and arts that explore instances of violence in human history and that are happening in the present day, discussing how violence impacts our world and considering how we can create a more peaceful world.
UIW alumna Darlene Jasso Mendoza presented on the book The Girl from Chimel, written by 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner and K'iche' Guatemalan human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum. In her book, Menchú Tum recalls her childhood experiences of growing up in Guatemala and shares the stories of her grandparents, parents and of the natural world (houseofanansi.com). The book is a vivid exploration of the experiences of indigenous communities through the eyes of Menchú Tum.
The subjects of Menchú Tum’s book are especially important to Jasso Mendoza. She and her husband Edwin Mendoza Hipp, also a UIW alumni, operate a nonprofit organization, Little Angels of Mary. The organization that was originally founded in 2007 by Mendoza Hipp’s father unfortunately closed down due to a lack of funding. Since its revival in 2016, the organization has provided nutritional support and quality education to disadvantaged children from indigenous communities in Guatemala.
“I believe that peace and love go hand in hand, and in order to see peace, we must start with love - so I believe we need to start by loving our neighbors and being that example of loving your neighbors for others,” shared Jasso Mendoz, “Loving your neighbor doesn’t just mean loving your friends and the people closest to you, it means to love every single person … To celebrate Peace Day, I am honored to speak on the children’s book The Girl from Chimel, written by Rigoberta Menchú Tum. She has spent her entire adult life speaking up on these injustices and has been a voice for indigenous communities all over the world. As the founder of Little Angels of Mary, alongside my husband who is from Guatemala, we work with indigenous communities in rural Guatemala that fought the same fight as Menchú Tum during the armed conflict and continued to fight to this day. We cannot be indifferent to the realities of this world — we must love our neighbor and fight for what is right.”
UIW’s Assistant Dean of Development & Public Relations Dr. Trey Guinn and Sr. Marth Ann Kirk, CCVI also presented on actions taken by UIW students in an effort to end global starvation. These actions include students participating in solidarity trip to Guatemala to support the work of Little Angels of Mary.
It was a day that acknowledged the hardships others have endured, honored the building of human connections and recognized the efforts made locally and globally in the pursuit of peace.