Spring Break
A voice for peace
by Hannah Edber
Features Editor
Features | 3/6/07
Posted online at 10:35 PM EST on 3/5/07
/ Last updated at 4:11 AM EST on 3/5/07
For a person who's been up all night, Aaron Voldman '09 seems surprisingly collected. It's 7 a.m. and in two hours Voldman will deliver a speech to the hundreds gathered at Brandeis for a weekend conference on the viability of a federal department of peace.
Even in these last time-pressured hours, as he sits perfecting the speech, Voldman still seems to be enjoying himself. "We were still laughing, even at 7 in the morning," says Sam Vaghar '08, his friend and partner in peace efforts on campus. "You know you've got a great balance there."
But to friends, that's no surprise. Voldman, a well-known pacifist leader on campus, is known for bringing balance to any situation.
As a high-school sophomore in Vermont, Voldman worked on the campaigns of two Republican gubernatorial candidates. A year later, he switched parties, devoting himself instead to Howard Dean, the democratic candidate. "I worked to transcend party labeling," Voldman says.
11 a.m. He's given his speech, he's tired, butt he's happy.
Flipping through the pages of his battered black appointment book, filled with scribbled notes, Voldman speaks softly about why he committed himself at such a young age. "I always felt called to public service," he says. "I strongly believed in the good of these people who were running for office."
At 16, Voldman traveled to Ghana to volunteer in a refugee camp, where he taught at a run-down elementary school. "It was an incredibly intense experience," he says. "I was moved by the spirit of the people." When he returned to his high school, Voldman founded the Non-Violent Student Activism Coalition.
"The idea was for students and youth to address issues of violence," he explains. And his leadership experience with this group, he says, laid the foundation for the Student Peace Alliance at Brandeis, which he founded in March 2006.
Voldman wasted no time getting involved in the political advocacy scene in college. In his first semester he founded the Brandeis chapter of Democracy for America, the national organization founded by Howard Dean, who now chairs the democratic National Committee. Voldman became DFA's national co-coordinator in June 2005.
Even in these last time-pressured hours, as he sits perfecting the speech, Voldman still seems to be enjoying himself. "We were still laughing, even at 7 in the morning," says Sam Vaghar '08, his friend and partner in peace efforts on campus. "You know you've got a great balance there."
But to friends, that's no surprise. Voldman, a well-known pacifist leader on campus, is known for bringing balance to any situation.
As a high-school sophomore in Vermont, Voldman worked on the campaigns of two Republican gubernatorial candidates. A year later, he switched parties, devoting himself instead to Howard Dean, the democratic candidate. "I worked to transcend party labeling," Voldman says.
11 a.m. He's given his speech, he's tired, butt he's happy.
Flipping through the pages of his battered black appointment book, filled with scribbled notes, Voldman speaks softly about why he committed himself at such a young age. "I always felt called to public service," he says. "I strongly believed in the good of these people who were running for office."
At 16, Voldman traveled to Ghana to volunteer in a refugee camp, where he taught at a run-down elementary school. "It was an incredibly intense experience," he says. "I was moved by the spirit of the people." When he returned to his high school, Voldman founded the Non-Violent Student Activism Coalition.
"The idea was for students and youth to address issues of violence," he explains. And his leadership experience with this group, he says, laid the foundation for the Student Peace Alliance at Brandeis, which he founded in March 2006.
Voldman wasted no time getting involved in the political advocacy scene in college. In his first semester he founded the Brandeis chapter of Democracy for America, the national organization founded by Howard Dean, who now chairs the democratic National Committee. Voldman became DFA's national co-coordinator in June 2005.
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pat simon
Pat Simon
posted 3/10/07 @ 1:22 PM EST
We, in the MA Campaign for a Department of Peace, feel blessed that Aaron and the Student Peace Alliance (SPA)which he founded, have created an essential component of this grassroots movement. (Continued…)
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