Valarie Kaur an American activist, lawyer, faith leader, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, visited Goshen College on Wednesday, Sept. 17. The event took place in the Umble Center and Qais Essar, an Afghan-American composer, instrumentalist and producer opened the lecture by playing the rabab, a stringed instrument from Central Asia.

Kaur is motivated to reclaim love as a force of justice.

The event was organized by Jeshua Franklin, Executive director of the music center. Franklin also chairs the Lecture Series Committee, which is responsible for working out details with a proposed speaker, reaching out to their agents, and hosting the series of lectures for each year.

Kaur shared stories about her experiences and Sikh ancestry. She mentioned the violence her family and many others went through after 9/11. A family friend of Kaur’s, Balbir Singh Sodhi, had been murdered because of the hate crimes in the aftermath. Kaur believed that instead of being angry at Sodhi’s killer, she should forgive him.

Many GC students and staff attended the event. Regina Shands Stoltzfus, professor of peace, justice, and conflict studies, introduced Kaur. Shands Stolzfus said Kaur’s talk was “meaningful and a needed reminder of the importance of our collective work for peace and justice.”

Shands Stolzfus first learned of Valarie Kaur from her viral TED Talk, “Revolutionary Love.” “The message resonated with me as a person who works in peace and conflict studies, and does anti-oppression activism.”She said.

Selah Potsander, a first-year engineering physics major, said, “I have started thinking more about how love and peace have shown over and over again throughout history that it has the power to overtake violence and evil,” after hearing Kaur speak.

“I learned that instead of expressing our rage in ways that can hurt ourselves and others, I can channel my rage into activism, and use it to stand up to political opposition, or things I believe are wrong.” Potsander said.

​Ines Villaseñor Rodríguez, a first-year molecular biology and biochemistry major said, “I have learned that it is important to say the truth in all cases and we need to stay together to overcome bad situations,” in response to Kaur’s talk. She said the lecture made her feel like she “was not alone.”

Emma Gilmer, a first-year environmental and marine science major, said Kaur’s talk had given her “a clearer picture of the truth of the world.” It motivated her to be more involved in her community to make a difference. Gilmer said Kaur’s presentation made her “view the world differently.” She said this was a time to love ourselves and others.

Ashley Torres, the director of communications for The Revolutionary Love Project, said GC’s mission and lecture request “really aligned” with the project. 

“Given the current climate, your school was the only school Valarie has been able to speak at this entire year,” she revealed.

When recounting a lunch meeting with students last Thursday, Torres said, “We were just so moved that we all felt like we could be courageous in this moment.”