First Greeley Scholar: “She Made People Think”

Greeley Scholar Linda Biehl

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Linda Biehl, the noted peace activist who spent the month of April at UMass Lowell as the University’s first annual Greeley Scholar, built many bridges, both on and off campus, during her brief stay.

Biehl, whose visit was made possible through the award of a $511,000 endowment, including matching funds, from the Dana McLean Greeley Foundation for Peace and Social Justice,  spent much of her time visiting classes and holding forums — some on the campus, others in surrounding communities — that focused on her experiences in South Africa since her daughter was murdered there by gang members 15 years ago. Since then, she has reconciled with her daughter’s killers (one of whom, Ntobeko Peni, was with her here during part of the month) and dedicated herself to the eradication of gang violence in that country.

During her time at the University, under the guidance of Prof. Robert Gamache, one of the coordinators for the Peace and Conflict Studies Institute (PACSI) — the home base for the Greeley Scholarship — Biehl visited churches and high schools in Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill and Concord (where she was a guest at Dana Greeley’s original Unitarian-Universalist Church), and held discussions at UMass Lowell in classes ranging from sociology and political science to community international relations.

At one point, in a class on community psychology, she led more than 60 members of the community in a dialogue about gang violence. Toward the end of her stay, to assist the owners with a fundraiser they were sponsoring, she even attended a Red Sox game.

“She met a lot of people,” says Paul Marion, UMass Lowell executive director of Outreach. “She extended herself in every way she could, way beyond what was called for. She even made time to get to know some members of the Cambodian community — she lives near Long Beach, California, which has the biggest concentration of Cambodians in the U.S., and I think she thought she could learn some things here that she could take back with her to help with problems back there.

“I was just enormously impressed by the power of her story to move people. She provoked some really serious discussions in the community about preventing violence. She made a lot of people think.

"I think too, that with all the good effects of her visit, she did a lot to strengthen the profile of PACSI, and of the [Greeley] program. Thanks to her, there’s a built-in sustainability now.”