Do you want to be a better person? Do you want the world we live in to be a better place? Do you want a unique opportunity to meet people from different walks of life? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Restorative Justice Club is for you. The club’s mission is to foster a commitment to live out restorative justice practices in order to promote social transformation, build relationships and promote the common good, including an equal, just, and mutually responsible society.

The club hosts seminars at the Handlon campus for students every first and third Saturday, which include group exercises, monthly readings and discussions, presentations, and guest speakers.

“The group exercises are amazing! We listen, read, talk and laugh together,” said senior Larry Conic. The club also helps organize an annual restorative justice conference, which won the 2017 Bert Thompson Award for Faith-Based Program from the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice.

The club creates a space for students to understand their roles as offenders, their impact on victims, and their damage to the community trust. However,  junior Bryan Harr notes that “restorative justice is not only applied in response to serious crime. It has a practical application to our daily interactions with others.”

Junior, Bryan Noonan adds that “It is also about aligning ourselves with God’s plan of restoration and seeking harmony in all our relationships. Restorative justice concepts help us empathize with people who have wronged us, and they encourage us to think deeply about how our behavior can deeply affect others.”

By joining the restorative justice club, you will learn conflict resolution skills; build essential social skills like empathy, trust, listening and understanding; and meet new people and hear different stories as we grow together as a club.

So, if you want to help change the culture and have a good time while doing it, join the Restorative Justice Club. You won’t regret it. The RJ Club, Calvin campus (which will interact with the RJ Club, Handlon campus) will form in the Spring Semester of 2019. If you are interested in joining this Calvin campus club contact Michael Duthler [email protected] Stay tuned for the announcement of an informational meeting in November.