Meet the Restorative Justice Fellows
This fall Kenan will launch the Restorative Justice Fellows program in which undergraduates will offer restorative practices to student clubs, organizations, and social groups to help them intentionally build community and resolve conflict in ways that preserve relationships and make room for amends. Restorative Justice is an ethical framework based on the fundamental premise that people are happier, more cooperative, more productive and more likely to make positive changes when they work with others in authority to address concerns. The restorative practices model provides a guiding philosophy to foster community that proactively develops positive relationships, creates shared values, and manages conflict through social discipline that restores relationships by acknowledging and repairing harms. In so doing, social wellbeing, belonging and civic participation increases while misbehavior, harassment and violence decreases—such outcomes have been well documented in K-12 and criminal justice settings and suggest similar results would be seen in other settings like university campuses.
The Fellows:
Kate Evans
Kate is a junior from Chatham, New Jersey. She is majoring in public policy with minors in history and sociology. She also volunteers as a Launch Lab mentor at Kenan. Kate is interested in restorative justice because it focuses on addressing harm rather than ineffective punishment. Last summer, Kate conducted research on the juvenile justice system in New Jersey, so she is especially interested in the power of restorative justice in juvenile justice spaces. She is excited to help spread restorative justice on campus and build stronger communities!
Ale Gomez
Ale is a junior from Miami, FL. She is studying Public Policy and Education with plans to teach after graduation (in Durham hopefully!) before doing a master’s in education policy. She’s interested in restorative justice work because she’s used it in classroom settings – such as this summer while teaching at StudentU, Durham based education nonprofit – and can attest to the fact that it changes the dynamic in the community and the relationships that are fostered. She believes restorative frameworks acknowledge people’s agency and freedom, strives to create authentic, inclusive communities, and repairs harm in a way where multiple perspectives are involved. She hopes it continues to spread into more classrooms so that we aren’t tearing down our students, but building up supportive, understanding communities of learners.
Zachary Horowitz
Zachary is a Sophomore from Los Angeles, CA studying Environmental Sciences and Policy and Neuroscience. On campus, he is a volunteer for the Duke Puppy Kindergarten, a Duke tour guide, and participates in various activities through Jewish Life at Duke. Zach is interested in how RJ can be used in Duke policy guidelines in addressing harm scenarios on campus, as well as spreading the process throughout Duke in order to create a more diverse RJ community.
Ali Hurst
Ali is a sophomore from Dallas, TX. She is studying Biology and African American Studies, with hopes of attending law school and working in criminal justice reform. Through her work with Kenan, she hopes to assist many factions of the Duke community in community building and promote unity on campus. As a part of the RJ committee on the Sexual Assault Prevention Team on campus, she is also working to incorporate RJ practices to address harm within the Greek community. When she isn’t doing schoolwork or participating in campus organizations, Ali likes to read, hike, and listen to music.
Chris Klasson
Chris is a junior from Rome, GA. He is a history major and chemistry minor following the pre-health track. He is interested in the ways that the humanities can be included in spaces they are traditionally not addressed, such as medicine. He already uses restorative justice for community building in his organizations, and looks forward to exploring ways it can be introduced into student groups’ policy for addressing harms caused by members.
Arya Patel
Arya is a Sophomore from Charlotte, North Carolina studying Public Policy and Economics. She has participated in various Kenan programs including the Focus Program, the Kenan Refugee Project and Project Change. She is particularly interested in Restorative Justice because of the power it has to strengthen communities and its humanistic approach. Arya is interested in the impacts of development programs for third world countries dealing with economic, social and cultural changes. Outside of school, Arya enjoys reading historical fiction, painting, and hanging out with friends.
Audrey Vila
Audrey is a junior from Seattle, WA. She is majoring in Public Policy with minors in history and political science, and she is interest in both domestic policy and international human rights. On campus, she is involved with the Community Empowerment Fund addressing housing instability in Durham. She hopes to use Restorative Justice to create more community within the groups she is involved with and on campus as a whole. As a trained RJ facilitator, she has seen the powerful presence RJ has within community and hopes to increase its use at duke. She also is interested in how restorative justice can be used within the US criminal justice system.