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PRC Coordinator to Visit World Friendship Center in Japan

Trip Designed to 'Reconnect' with Global Peace Society in Asian Nation Wilmington College’s Dr. Tanya Maus expects her visit to Japan this week will go toward lessening — at least figuratively — the 6,562-mile distance between Wilmington and Hiroshima. Maus, coordinator of the Peace Resource Center, will attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, the sight of the atomic bombing by American military forces that both hastened the end of World War II and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Japanese citizens. (ABOVE) Peace Resource Center coordinator Dr. Tanya Maus shows President Jim Reynolds the plaque she will present to the World Friendship Center on behalf of Wilmington College. “The Peace Resource Center is honored to be able to join the World Friendship Center in recognizing Barbara Reynolds’s legacy of peace, as well as 50 years of peace-building and programs encouraging peaceful intercultural exchange,” Maus said. The late Barbara Reynolds founded the World Friendship Center in Japan 1965 and the Peace Resource Center 10 years later at Wilmington College. She was a peace activist with a special interest in “giving voice to the stories” of atomic bomb survivors and appealing for an end to nuclear weapons. The College’s Quaker affiliation was a springboard for fostering the relationship. Maus will give a 90-minute presentation about the College and Peace Resource Center, and present a plaque from WC President Jim Reynolds as symbolic gesture representing the connection between the PRC and its “sister center” in Japan. “The larger purpose of the visit is to reconnect Wilmington College with the World Friendship Center and the global peace community in Japan,” she said, noting she will meet with Reynolds’ daughter, Jessica Reynolds Renshaw, the family member most active in memorializing her mother and continuing her mission. Maus also will travel to Kyoto, where she will tour the Museum for World Peace and present a lecture titled “A Legacy of Peace” with the museum’s docents association. Also she will meet with Japanese peace educators, relief volunteers and atomic bombing survivors. “I’ve taught about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I’ve had little opportunity to connect personally with people involved with the peace movement in Japan,” she added. “I’m especially looking forward to that and sharing my experience with interested persons when I return to Wilmington.” WC’s Isaac Harvey Fund is covering a portion of Maus’ travel expenses. The fund assists students, faculty and staff in travels for activities that are consistent with Quaker values.