Heravi Peace Institute Receives $50,000 Grant From Educating Character Initiative

Utah State University’s Heravi Peace Institute has gained national recognition with the announcement of a $50,000 capacity building grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), a new funding opportunity from the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University.

This grant, one of only 41 awarded to institutions nationwide, is designed to assist university programs like the HPI by providing guidance, funding and a network of like-minded educators for collaborative work.

“Support from the ECI will allow us to expand our reach and effectiveness not only for students on the Logan campus, but throughout USU’s statewide and extension presence,” said Austin Knuppe, assistant professor of political science and one of the grant’s authors.

With the leadership of an interdisciplinary group of four primary investigators, Knuppe, Patrick Q. Mason (religious studies), Shannon Peterson (political science), and Tammy M. Proctor (history), the funds are earmarked for capacity building and strategic planning.

The Heravi Peace Institute Faculty Board will use the grant to begin developing programs to expand its reach, and USU plans to send a team to the inaugural conference for the network in December. Facilitators from the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington and the University of Notre Dame will join the core faculty at August and November retreats designed to crystallize the vision for the HPI going forward.

Proctor, who is currently serving as interim director of the Heravi Peace Institute, expressed her delight at the award.

“As a new institute, we are just beginning to apply for external funds, so having success in our first effort is a real recognition of the important programs we are building here at USU.”

When USU Alumnus Mehdi Heravi donated funds to create the institute in 2022, as a means of integrating work already being done by faculty and students and spurring further efforts, he hoped the Heravi Peace Institute would work to develop national recognition as a leader in the field. Heravi’s generosity enabled the consolidation of five undergraduate certificates in interfaith leadership, diplomacy, peacebuilding, conflict communication and nonprofit management as well as a robust scholarship program for students who want to gain real-world experience through internships and study abroad. This grant further propels the Heravi Peace Institute by providing seed money for the institute’s efforts.

The Heravi Peace Institute Board maintains that the world is in desperate need of a new generation of peacebuilders and innovative thinkers who approach conflict with empathy and creativity.

Mason wrote in the grant application that “if one of the major purposes of higher education is to prepare students to make a positive impact on society, there are few more pressing tasks than to equip these emerging adults with the temperament and toolsthey need in order to engage and transform conflict constructively.”

This fall the Heravi Peace Institute will welcome several new faculty, staff and students, and it will host a number of interesting events open to the USU community. Proctor also noted that the institute will seek a permanent director during the next academic year and has just hired Nora Tavana as program director. Tavana comes to USU after earning a Master in Peace Studies from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego. Proctor hopes the grant will spur an expansion of all areas of the Heravi Peace Institute’s important work and help position it in its other external funding applications.