Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship will host its annual conference March 13-15 at Eastern Mennonite University with the theme “Solidarity, Community and Resistance in this Political Moment.”

The ICPF committee, comprised of college students from EMU, Goshen College and Bluffton University, said the conference is going to focus on practical campus organizing while facing the realities of fascism, genocide and anti-intellectualism in the current political environment.

“It was hard to pick a specific or narrow theme when it felt like there is so much we could talk about at a peace conference right now,” said committee member Shawna Hurst, a sophomore elementary education major at EMU.

Hurst said one of the biggest challenges is prioritizing what feels relevant to college students and making the conference impactful long-term.

“It’s also empowering to show other students and to give students the opportunity to be in a role where you can plan and organize and get the inside connection with adults who may have a lot of experience with planning social justice movements in their local community,” she added.

The conference will include workshops, keynote speakers who work for peace and justice in their communities and good food — specifically a potluck with local organizations in the Harrisonburg area.

Keynote speakers will be Emily Welty, director of the peace and justice studies program at Pace University in New York City, and Nadia Dames, a business owner, community advocate and organizer in the Harrisonburg, Va., area.

Last year’s conference gathered more than 120 people from 11 universities across the U.S.

The ICPF committee is still receiving workshop proposals from students, faculty and community members at icpfcommittee@gmail.com or forms.gle/NBn2u72bx9qYw8EW9.

Registration is free until Feb. 28 and will close March 7 at emu.edu/studentlife/clubs/websites/peace-fellowship/icpf or through @icpfconference on Instagram.