"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
About
Center for Peace, Equity & Justice
Peace Week
Peace Week is a special moment in our school year—a time to pause, reconnect with our Quaker testimony of Peace, and consider how each of us can help create a more compassionate and just world. Peace Week 2026 will be celebrated from January 20–23, and this year’s theme, Grounded in Spirit, Growing in Peace, invites us to draw strength from our inner Light as we nurture peace within ourselves and extend it to others. We are delighted to welcome Willie Perdomo ’85 as our 2026 Peace Week speaker. Perdomo will present his address to the Friends Seminary community on Thursday, January 22 at 6 PM in the Meetinghouse. To attend this event, click here.
PREVIOUS PEACE WEEK THEMES AND SPEAKERS
2025
Growing Together through Silence and Dialogue
Meredith Evans '90, speaker
2024
The Threads of Our Community
Joy Harjo, speaker
2023
Growing Together through Silence and Dialogue
Meredith Evans '90, speaker
2024
The Threads of Our Community
Joy Harjo, speaker
2023
Masih Alinejad, speaker
2022
Let Your Life Speak: Reflecting on the Testimonies and Our Mission
Community Meeting for Worship
2021
Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture & Identity
Winona Guo and Priya Gulchi, speakers
2020
David Wallace-Wells, speaker
2019
Justice and Mercy: Transforming Conflict into ConnectionBryan Stevenson, speaker
2018
Seeking Refuge: the Ethics and Politics of Migration and ImmigrationSonia Nazzario, speaker
2017
The New America: Listening Across the DividesGeorge Packer, speaker
2016
Let Your Life Speak
Chelsea Clinton, speaker
Photo Gallery
Speech
Chelsea Clinton, speaker
Photo Gallery
Speech
A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunities
Nicholas Kristof and Maro Chermayeff, speakers
Nicholas Kristof and Maro Chermayeff, speakers
2014
Legacies of Peace: Choosing to Use the Gift of our Lives to Make the World a Better Place
Maggie Doyne, Neil Blumenthal ‘98 and Dr. Oliver Rothschild ‘98, speakers
Maggie Doyne, Neil Blumenthal ‘98 and Dr. Oliver Rothschild ‘98, speakers
2013
Building Bridges: Peace Through Understanding
Teri McLuhan, speaker
2012
Teri McLuhan, speaker
2012
Michael Arad, speaker
2011
Educating for Peace: Friends Seminary and 225 Years of Quaker Education
2010
2009
In the Presence of Justice: The Politics of Peace
Mary Robinson, speaker
Mary Robinson, speaker
2008
War Letters: Both Said and Sung
Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Palmedo and Crystal Sikora, speakers
Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Palmedo and Crystal Sikora, speakers
2007
Environmental Stewardship – A Pathway to Peace
James Turrell, speaker
James Turrell, speaker
2006
Nonviolence in the Age of Terrorism
Arun Gandhi, speaker
Arun Gandhi, speaker
2005
The Diplomat, the Activist and the Academic
Pierre Schori, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Tuchman Mathews, speakers
Pierre Schori, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Tuchman Mathews, speakers
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
