KU News Release

Graduation stories: KU senior is giving peace a chance

Jon Dennis

LAWRENCE — Yes, Jon Dennis has been arrested. But don’t worry: it had nothing to do with public intoxication or any other sort of nefarious activity.

The University of Kansas senior’s encounter with police in March was really just a matter of bad luck. Of the 3,000 people protesting the Iraq war in Washington, D.C., about 200 were detained. Dennis just happened to be one of them. The charge was civil disobedience.

Looking at Dennis, you’d never know he has a record. He’s polite and soft-spoken, a member of the Quaker faith. His passion is peace.

A native of Hutchinson, Dennis always has been an advocate for those less fortunate than himself. He’s worked with people with developmental disabilities and was a supervisor at a homeless shelter. He even organized an annual benefit concert in his hometown.

“There are things bigger than myself,” said Dennis. “I’ve always tried to keep that in mind when living my life.”

After he graduated from Hutchinson High School and Hutchinson Community College, Dennis came to KU to major in religious studies. He chose a minor in peace and conflict studies, a relatively new program at KU.

He also started a group called KU Peacebuilders. Dennis says the organization’s mission is to create a more just society. The Peacebuilders work in the Lawrence community, hosting everything from panel discussions to pancake feeds.

The idea for the group started in early 2006 when Dennis enrolled in a class at KU called Literature of the Oppressed, taught by Pete Casagrande, professor of humanities and western civilization. Dennis and Casagrande began to discuss what individuals could do to combat oppression. The answer was KU Peacebuilders.

“The Peacebuilders are a product of Jon’s fertile, generous brain and heart,” Casagrande said. “He’s a dreamer of the best sort and a hard-working, practical actualizer of dreams as well. You’ve heard of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Well, I call him Sancho Quixote.”

In his last month at KU, Dennis is busy preparing the Peacebuilders to go on without him and participating in Christian Peace Witness for Iraq, another group on campus dedicated to ending the war in the Middle East. He also is writing a thesis to graduate with departmental honors from religious studies.

“A lot of friendships have developed here — sometimes in very unexpected places,” Dennis said of KU.

After graduation, Dennis will join the Peace Corps, something he says he has been considering since high school. He will be stationed in central Asia. After that, he wants to go to law school to become a human rights lawyer.

“Jon is one of the most remarkable students I’ve had the honor of working with since I began working with university students in 1960,” Casagrande said. “I feel fortunate to have him among us. He will make a difference.”

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