10:00 am, Monday, February 20, 2006
Church Chapel

Convocation: Wilhelm Verwoerd, guest speaker from South Africa

Verwoerd is on campus as the keynote speaker at the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference Feb. 24-25.

Verwoerd has done extensive research and writing on the dynamics of reconciliation, especially in public and political terms, including a Ph.D. in Philosophy, with a thesis on "Equity, Mercy, Forgiveness: Interpreting Amnesty within the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission."

His work is rendered all the more significant because he is the grandson of Hendrik Verwoerd, the South African prime minister (1958-1966) who is regarded as the "architect of the apartheid state."

Professor Joe Liechty learned to know Verwoerd in Ireland, because he is the husband of the South African ambassador to that country. In Ireland, Verwoerd has helped to create a program for ex-combatants--paramilitary, police, and military.

Contact: Joe Liechty, phone (574) 535-7802, email joecl@goshen.edu