September 30 2005 — Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, spoke to students, faculty, and guests at an All-School Assembly today.

Williams received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her role as founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). She was awarded the Prize jointly with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

At the time, Williams was only the tenth woman in its 101-year history to be awarded a Peace Prize and only the third woman from the United States to receive the honor. International organizer and activist, teacher and writer, Williams is a sought after speaker on human rights and international law, the role of civil society in international diplomacy, and individual initiative in bringing about social change.

ICBL was an important force behind the convention to ban antipersonnel landmines signed in Ottawa in December 1997 by more than 120 countries. The treaty bans the use, production, trade, and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines.

In her Nobel Lecture upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Williams spoke poignantly about how these weapons of war do not recognize peace.

"Landmines distinguish themselves because once they have been sown, once the soldier walks away from the weapon, the landmine cannot tell the difference between a soldier or a civilian – a woman, a child, a grandmother going out to collect firewood to make the family meal. The crux of the problem is that while the use of the weapon might be militarily justifiable during the day of the battle, or even the two weeks of the battle, or maybe even the two months of the battle, once peace is declared the landmine does not recognize that peace. The landmine is eternally prepared to take victims. In common parlance, it is the perfect soldier, the "eternal sentry." The war ends, the landmine goes on killing."

Williams has a master's degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a master's degree in Teaching Spanish and ESL from the School for International Training, and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Vermont.

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