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Junior Judy Smith has found an artistic and cool way to make a difference in the Tiffin community, and it originated with the HYPE Career Ready® Program.

Last fall, Judy participated in a HYPE session, titled Non-Violence in Conflict Resolution and conducted by Sister Paulette Schroeder.

“When she came to campus and gave that presentation, something caught my attention,” said Judy. “Then, she invited me to come to a meeting and I was hooked.”

The “meeting” involved a local group of government officials, educators, religious representatives and those interested in launching a grassroots effort to make Tiffin the 51st nonviolent city, through the national Nonviolent Cities Project. According to its website, the Nonviolent Cities Project calls upon activists, organizers, local leaders, political and religious leaders and ordinary citizens in every city in the nation to organize their local community as a “nonviolent city.”

For the past year, the committee, which also includes education professor Dr. Brian Haley, has been working behind the scenes to publicly launch the campaign.

When Judy came on board as a member of the committee, she volunteered to handle social media for the group. She created Tiffin4Peace as the official name of the campaign and has taken the message to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

“From there, it’s just grown,” Judy said. “It’s been a process. We needed something catchy. Sister Paulette just fell in love with it.”

The inaugural event was an April 13 keynote by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Fr. John Dear, author and internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. Judy had the privilege of introducing him for his talk, which focused on addressing nonviolence by raising awareness in a small community.

The second event is a theatrical presentation and art exhibit – “Do You See Me?” – which Judy is coordinating. It will be held in Gundlach Theatre on Thursday, April 26, at 7 p.m.

“Do You See Me?” centers around stories from clients of CROSSWAEH, the local community-based correctional facility that aims to reduce criminal behavior and divert felony offenders from state prison. Judy explained that the clients reflected on these questions: “What do you wish people knew about you?” and “What do you need from us as a community?”

“Essentially, they want to be seen as real people, who, yes, have made mistakes, but who are trying to improve their lives,” she said. “They don’t want to be identified by their mistakes.”

For “Do You See Me?” Judy has worked with Theatre Director Stephen Svoboda and School of Music & Theatre students, who will perform dramatic and musical interpretations of the CROSSWAEH clients’ writings. Artwork around the theme also will be part of the program.

Judy hopes people will walk away from “Do You See Me?” with an attitude change.

“It’s only when you truly see someone as a complex human being that violence toward them becomes impossible,” she said. “I want at least one person to come away with an idea about how to implement nonviolence in their life and maybe be a little kinder toward someone.”

Although Judy took on Tiffin4Peace as the service learning project for her Honors program requirement, her involvement won’t end with “Do You See Me?”

“Even after this semester, I’m going to continue to be part of the campaign,” she said. “Nonviolence is such a broad topic that we could take it in any direction.”

The committee has talked about the opioid epidemic and gun violence. As an environmental science and math major, Judy would like to see it go in that direction, too. The initiative itself is not her sole motivation.

“Although Sister Paulette was my inspiration, the main thing is being involved in the community,” she said.