Katrina Poplett, a 2016 alum and current sophomore Center for Justice and Peace student, was first inspired to create a Restorative Justice (RJ) training session at EMU after attending one in New York during her sophomore year. Poplett, who describes RJ as a “paradigm shift that involves looking at justice as a more holistic concept, including the voices and opinions of those who have been harmed, those who caused the harm, and the communities around them,” saw the need for such a training at EMU. It seemed only fitting to Poplett that EMU, home to the Zehr Institute of Restorative Justice, and CJP offers opportunities for its broader community to be exposed to RJ and interact with it. Thus, after working together with Jonathan Swartz, she developed a plan for what RJ training would look like at EMU as part of her honors capstone presentation.
This past Saturday, Oct. 27, Poplett’s dreams came to fruition as EMU held its first-ever Restorative Justice Facilitator Training in the Discipleship Center. The seven-hour training, open to EMU undergraduate, graduate and seminary students, was attended by 25 participants in addition to faculty and staff. The morning portion of the training exposed participants to the foundations of RJ theory and demonstrated examples where RJ can be used. After a quick lunch break, participants had the opportunity to practice the skills they had learned by participating in roleplays where they grappled with conflicts and how to approach them from an RJ standpoint as a facilitator. Sophomore Ruth Reimer-Berg, wanted to learn more about the possibilities of using Restorative Justice in her future classroom. Reimer-Berg added that “the simulations were most impactful as it allowed [her] to compare different responses to a singular situation, examining different ways to achieve justice” and she left the training wanting to change the way we as a society treat those we have harmed.
The training was run by Co-Director of the Zehr Institute of Restorative Justice, Johonna Turner, and Associate Dean of Students and Res-life, Jonathan Swartz, while graduate students Poplett, Mikayla Waters-Crittenton, and Fabiana Espinal served as assistant trainers. Throughout the training, they answered questions and provided insights and emotional support for the participants. They are optimistic about the possibilities of offering future trainings. The new availability of Restorative Justice Facilitator Training serves as a testament to EMU’s continued commitment to work towards social justice and equip students with tools needed to navigate hard situations.
