By Janelle Henderson

Two friends were united in their struggle for peace three weeks ago, when Stacy Bailey-Ndiaye became the new associate director for Programs and New Initiatives for the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice at U of L.

Bailey-Ndiaye and Institute Director Alvin Herring met over a decade ago at a National Coalition of Business Institute conference, and have since remained in touch.

Now, years later, Herring has invited Bailey-Ndiaye to join him at the Ali Institute, a U of L initiative that started three years ago to address issues of conflict resolution and peacemaking.

The Ali Institute is the brainchild of the Muhammad Ali family, former U of L president John Schumaker and former Louisville mayor Dave Armstrong. Its mission is to advance “the work, study and practice of peacemaking, social justice, and violence prevention through the development of innovative educational programs, training, service and research,” according to the institute’s Web site.

Herring, the former assistant vice president for Campus Life, transferred in January to the Ali Institute, where he hoped to expand on his previous work.

“I was looking for continuing challenges that would give me an opportunity to work even more closely on issues of social justice, peace and violence prevention. … The Ali Institute was an ideal place for me,” he said.

Bailey-Ndiaye moved to U of L from Manhattanville College in New York state, where she was director of Multicultural Affairs.

She sees her new position as a way to focus more directly on conflict resolution and peace issues, both causes to which she is deeply devoted.

“To be able to work in an environment where I get to make a genuine contribution to the world in a specific kind of way … is a tremendous opportunity of a lifetime,” she said.

Although the institute is still only in planning stages for its many future endeavors, the enthusiasm for its cause is boundless.

Herring believes Ali was the perfect namesake for the institute, citing the boxing champion’s legacy of commitment to advocacy.

“Ali is the favorite son of the city of Louisville, and Louisville is proud of him and his contributions. We are happy to have a connection with a world figure,” he said.

“We’re named after Ali because of the work he’s been involved in during the second half of his life. He’s a spokesman for children’s rights and conflict resolution globally. And he’s a religious figure that has been uniting people of different faiths.”

In addition to national problems of poverty and class, Bailey-Ndiaye sees racial issues as an obstacle to peace and justice in Louisville.

“Without great diversity, it seems like the ethnic groups are quieter and more invisible,” she said.

“There needs to be a focus on who’s here and helping them come out, so to speak. Once they come out, so will their issues.”

Even though the Ali Institute is relatively young, it has a lot of ambitious goals for the future, including Peace and Justice Week; Youth Forum for Peace, a day-long peacemaking planning event for Jefferson County Public School students and students from other school systems; and the Muhammad Ali Scholars Program, a two-year program for sophomore and junior undergraduates.

The scholars program will teach students the importance of service and scholarship while providing them with conflict resolution skills.

Mordean Taylor-Archer, vice provost for diversity and the administrator over the Ali Institute, believes that, through its collaboration with the Ali Center and its programs in the works, the Ali Institute will surpass its goals.

“I envision that over the next two years, the institute will be instrumental in addressing social justice issues of inequity and injustice,” she said.

“In the long run, we want to see structural change take place that include shifts in power politically, educationally and socially, needed to eradicate social injustices and inequality. We can then look to a future where peace and justice will prevail here and throughout the world.”

For more information, contact the Ali Institute by phone at 852-6372 or visit their Web site at http://aliinstitute.louisville.edu.