If you want to create a more just and peaceful world, you must first imagine that such a world is possible. Then you can begin taking the actions necessary to achieve it. We at the Ashland Center for Nonviolence (ACN) know how overwhelming that can be. So we invite you to join our mission and start making that goal a reality!
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Contact Information

Craig Hovey
Interim Director
chovey@ashland.edu

Elizabeth Buttil
Assistant Director
ebuttil@ashland.edu
acn@ashland.edu
419-289-5313
Our Mission
We promote alternatives to violence and initiate and support efforts to create a more just, inclusive and caring community. We work to achieve those goals by:
- Building the next generation of peacemakers. We train students to be mediators of student disputes. We also offer conflict-resolution training to local community members.
- Providing thoughtful, critical analyses of local, national and international issues. In an effort to prevent and de-escalate violence, we bring to light violence in all its forms and the factors that contribute to it.
- Reaching out to a broad range of people about issues of social concern. In a politically polarized society, we know it’s vitally important to speak to and be relevant to a diverse range of people on the topics and social issues that are most important to them. We also work to inspire and empower citizens from different cultural, political and religious backgrounds to participate in making changes in nonviolent ways.
- Disseminating information about upcoming events and opportunities for furthering peace and justice. We inform people about events they may want to take part in and how to do so effectively, yet peacefully.
We seek a world in which human conflict at all levels can be resolved without resorting to violence and in which social justice can be realized.

Upcoming Events
ACLU of Ohio
Know Your Rights: Free Speech and Protest
Monday, September 25, 2023 | Noon
Ronk Lecture Hall-Schar College of Education
Community Conversation about The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 | 5:30 p.m.
Stockwell Room of Ashland Public Library
Jillian Peterson author of The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic
In collaboration with the Symposium Against Indifference and the Ashland County Mental Health and Recovery Board
Tuesday, October 10, 2023 | 7 p.m.
John C. Myers Convocation Center-Alumni Room
Season for Nonviolence Keynote Address: Naomi Tutu
Tuesday, January 30, 2024 | 7 p.m.
John C. Myers Convocation Center-Alumni Room
VIP Dinner at 5:30 p.m. by reservation only. Email ebuttl@ashland.edu for more information.
9th Annual John D. Stratton Conference: Peace through Peaceful Means
Friday-Saturday, February 23 & 24, 2024
Dauch College of Business and Economics
Film Screening: What I Want You to Know
Zoom conversation with film's writers/producers to follow.
In collaboration with the Symposium Against Indifference
Thursday, March 21, 2024 | 7 p.m.
Hawkins-Conard Student Center Auditorium

Event Archive
Additional information about upcoming and past events from 2023 onward can be viewed on the Ashland Center for Nonviolence page in Ashland Engage.