The Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island (URI) congratulates Gail Faris for winning the International Nonviolence Trainer’s Award for December 2022. Faris is the President of the Nonviolent Schools Rhode Island, a local nonprofit organization that introduces the principles and practices of Kingian Nonviolence to many local, national, and global schoolteachers for its application into their teaching profession.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Faris is an exemplary teacher with peace, nonviolence, and lovingkindness in the core of her heart. She started teaching elementary school students and progressed toward teaching college students during her dynamic academic career. Her endless passion and commitment to ending racism, classism, sexism, poverty, and violence have been proven through decades of courageous activism and social services.
Gail Faris was one of the eight founding members of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island in 1998. She holds the highest Level 3 certification in Kingian Nonviolence and Conflict Reconciliation from the URI Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies. She completed her Level 2 Advanced Leadership Training in Kingian Nonviolence and Level 1 Training of Trainers in Kingian Nonviolence and Conflict Reconciliation in the early 2000s from Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. at the Center. Faris received her bachelor’s degree from Salve Regina University, a master’s degree in education, and a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations, both from the University of Rhode Island.
Teaching at the University of Rhode Island, Faris developed a popular course titled “Academic Alternative Spring Break: Classroom Without Borders.” Faris said that she created the framework for this program with a close eye on the principles and practices of nonviolence while teaching about food security, adequate housing, economic and environmental justice, and other social justice issues. Through this social justice and service-learning class, Faris engaged and empowered many college students in both the classroom and the field, working with Habitat for Humanity in the American south in acute and chronic poverty areas.
Over the years, Faris also taught many non-traditional students who were pursuing their GED education certificates. She also worked with students with developmental disabilities and their parents. A parent group she started in the 1980s continues to be active to this day, talking to each other for mutual support and strong friendships. No matter whom she was teaching or where she was teaching, she was always mindful and effortful in making the learning environment inclusive, accessible, and respectful for all.
Faris said that her education and comfort with presenting the philosophy and practice of Kingian Nonviolence was enhanced when she got the opportunity to assist Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. in conducting the Level II Training at the International Nonviolence Summer Institutes at URI. Indeed, she has been serving as a co-trainer to Dr. LaFayette, Jr. for the advanced Level 2 Training during our International Nonviolence Summer Institute for many years. Hundreds of national and international participants respect Faris for her humility, wisdom, and compassion.
Besides teaching, Faris has served in many administrative capacities. For example, she served as the assistant director of the Women’s Center at URI for many years. She is a staunch advocate for Women’s Rights. She was honored with the Woman of the Year award by the Association for Professional and Academic Women (APAW) in 2009 for her invaluable contributions to students, colleagues, and the URI community. Many adore her as an innovator, motivator, and role model.
In 2010, Faris served as a coordinator of the URI Honors Symposium on RACE, a semester-long program with multiple nationally recognized scholars to speak and start meaningful public dialogs about race. The excellent speaker series was complemented by theatrical productions, film, and art exhibits that helped to explore key issues of RACE entangled with inequality, racial profiling, and immigration reform.
One of the great humanitarian efforts she has been serving since retirement from URI in 2011 is her work at a respite center in McAllen, Texas. She assists Central American immigrants in search of a safe and comfortable passage into the U.S. Faris said, “I never expected to do extraordinary things, but my effort has been to do ordinary things extraordinarily.”
Faris’s perseverance in promoting nonviolence, peace, equality, and human flourishing is highly effective and admirable. We sincerely congratulate her for winning the International Nonviolence Trainer’s Award. To learn more and support her projects, you may reach her at: gailfaris@uri.edu