ITHACA, N.Y. -- To raise awareness about social justice and peace movements and to reflect on the work of peace activist Father Daniel Berrigan and the late Rev. Jack Lewis, who led Cornell United Religious Work (CURW) during the tumultuous anti-Vietnam War era, a weekend of festivities titled "Celebrating Peace Activism: America Is Still Hard to Find" and a visit from Berrigan are slated for Sept. 19-21 at Cornell University.

Coordinated by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell, the weekend includes a festival of music that includes Michelle Shocked, Stephan Smith, and Bread and Puppet Theater on the Arts Quad, a debate on the role of direct action and voting in political discourse, and remarks and a sermon by Berrigan.

Berrigan, an American Jesuit priest as well as a poet, playwright, teacher and civil disobedience activist, was chaplain at Cornell in 1970 when he carried out nonviolent resistance to the Vietnam War by burning draft registration records. He went underground when he was sentenced to three years in prison. During the anti-war "America Is Hard to Find Weekend" at Cornell that year, fugitive Berrigan appeared briefly before an audience in Barton Hall, and he evaded authorities by hiding under a Bread and Puppet papier-mâché figure. He stayed underground for several months, until federal authorities tracked him down and he was imprisoned for 18 months. After that, he was arrested regularly for his protest actions at weapons manufacturers and other sites, and he authored more than 50 books.

"Through his nonviolent direct action, Father Berrigan has throughout his life demonstrated the commitment and integrity of a religiously principled stand for peace and justice," says Anke Wessels, executive director of CRESP. "He is known for speaking and acting from his religious commitment to nonviolence at a time, in the late 1960s, when it was dangerous to do so. We are thrilled to have him return to campus and share his views about the current political climate, since our nation is again engaged in a war for the sake of improving national security, and those who protest this strategy are often criticized as un-American."

The late Rev. W. Jack Lewis, who was director of CURW from 1965 to 1981, played a pivotal role on campus in the 1960s by smoothing relationships among faculty, administrators and students during the peace movements.

The weekend kicks off Friday, Sept. 19, with a poetry performance with music at the First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park in Ithaca, at 7 p.m. Saturday's highlights include a debate, "This Is What Democracy Looks Like: Is Voting Enough?" in Uris Hall on campus from 1 to 3 p.m.; a festival of music, with Shocked, Smith, Radio London, Hank Roberts' Band, and Bread and Puppet Theater, on the Arts Quad, 2:30-6:30 p.m.; and a documentary film about Lewis in Barnes Hall at 7:30 p.m., which will be followed by remarks by Berrigan. The weekend wraps up with a sermon on Sunday by Berrigan in Sage Chapel at 11 a.m.

Other events include a mural display of peace activism and a slide show on activism in Ithaca at the Cornell Store. For further details, see this Web site: http://www.sas.cornell.edu/CRESP/berrigan .