Baha’i Chair Hosts Hundreds to Celebrate 30 Years of Progress Toward Peace 

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the University of Maryland’s Baha’i Chair for World Peace recently hosted 350 guests from as near as College Park, Md. to as far as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, the United Kingdom, Australia, China and Israel for an evening full of reflection, appreciation and inspiration. 

The event kicked off with a free buffet dinner of Persian cuisine, which was served from 5:30-6:45 p.m. in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union’s Grand Ballroom. Guests then moved upstairs to the student union’s Colony Ballroom for the evening’s main event, which featured remarks from many notable speakers including Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Jennifer King Rice; Susan Rivera, Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS); Kenneth Bowers, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States; Sein Chew, President of CEO of Unity Asset Management; and more.

“So many of the Baha'i Chair’s activities—past, present and future—are so clearly aligned with our [university’s] new [strategic] plan, driven by a key principle: Service to humanity,” Provost Rice said during her opening remarks. “At the University of Maryland, we are guided by an unwavering commitment to fearlessly forge a better world for humankind, and the Baha’i Chair does this in so many ways … I am incredibly proud of this partnership at the University of Maryland, and I look forward to engaging with the Baha'i Chair as we continue to move fearlessly forward.” 

Building on Provost Rice’s comments, Dean Rivera spoke about how the Baha’i Chair likewise embodies the goals and values of the college.

“In keeping with the best traditions of our college and our practice, understandings must always be linked to solutions—indeed, to the most carefully scripted, thoughtful, innovative and appropriate solutions—and it is here that the Baha’i Chair’s link to understanding and application articulates the highest values of the BSOS ethos,” Dean Rivera said. “The chair helps to make an argument as to why universities in general, and the social sciences in particular, remain critically relevant to the nation’s and the world's success.” 

Following a brief history of the Baha’i Chair for World Peace—during which its present holder, Professor Hoda Mahmoudi, thanked many attendees for their three decades of contributions and support—Bowers also spoke, ending his remarks with a generous $100,000 check from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States to the University of Maryland’s  Baha’i Chair for World Peace. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States also presented Mahmoudi with a crystal globe, and a bouquet of flowers to Kate Seaman, Ph.D., Assistant Director to the Bahá’i Chair for World Peace.

Via video and a handful of in-person testimonials, a mix of former and current students shared how the Baha’i Chair—be it the late Professor Suheil Bushrui, Dr. John Grayzel, or Mahmoudi herself—impacted their life on both a personal and professional level. 

Though not a former student, Department of Sociology Professor Rashawn Ray shared how Mahmoudi impacted him as well; Mahmoudi was among Ray’s first BSOS faculty friends. 

“I consider Hoda to be one of my mentors, one of my friends, and that is because for over a decade we have worked together on a systemic racism initiative; and it’s important to note that when we were trying to come up with something to work on together, I said ‘Well, I study race in America,’ and Hoda said ‘I know,’ and she did not shy away from that in a period where even today, people are continuing to shy away from how we think about prejudice and discrimination not just in the United States but in a global context,” said Ray. “Whether it is systemic racism, sexism, climate change or other topics, the Baha'i Chair for World Peace shows the human rights side and gives us hope that true world peace is possible.”

What, or rather who, will make world peace possible was the closing message of Professor Mahmoudi’s speech, which was followed shortly thereafter by a coffee and dessert reception. 

“The successes of peace will come from all of us—an us comprised of a fellowship of the willing. The work of peace will come from a collaboration of those dedicated to toiling in unison, regardful of the past, while being fully in the present, and with a mind to the future,” she said. “We invite you to help us imagine such a new world of peace.”  

Published on Wed, Feb 8, 2023 - 11:39AM