Jason Terry

A.B. in History and Political Science, 2005

Graduate Student — International Peace and Conflict Resolution

American University

Washington, D.C.

“The day after I came out,” says Jason Terry, “Matthew Shepherd was killed in Wyoming for being gay. It was a tough time for a small-town high school student to be gay, and my life was difficult. When I arrived at Guilford College, the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders. I was safe.”

He also was exactly where he should be, in the place that would shape him and his future permanently. At Guilford, Jason discovered and developed the perspective to function on an international scale, something he always dreamed of doing.

“Working with the Anti-Racism Team at Guilford College opened my eyes so much,” he says, “and taught me important lessons about equality, about respect and about making a personal commitment to the struggle for justice."

Jason first developed a sense of global awareness through the National High School Model United Nations, whose conference is run by roughly 70 college students from around the U.S. and Canada. His involvement began as a participant in high school; when he went to Guilford College, he joined the staff. Serving as Chief of External Relations and as an Under-Secretary-General, he dealt with 2,300 high school students and with teachers from 130 schools around the world. He realized that he wanted to think, live and contribute internationally.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, strengthened that intention. “The Sept. 11 attacks happened my freshman year at Guilford,” Jason says, “and it was clear that now we all are living in a global community.”

He is well on his way to a life that will help change the world. Now 23 years old, Jason has the bachelor’s degree from Guilford College, is earning the master’s degree from American University and already has served as Africa Project Officer with the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington, D.C. (where he developed conflict resolution training programs for West African countries, focusing on Liberia), and as a Future of Peace Operations Intern at The Stimson Center — also in Washington — where he again concentrated on initiatives in West Africa.

His overseas training began when he spent a Guilford College semester studying abroad. He worked in London as an intern for Jeremy Corbyn, a Member of Parliament, and “I loved it,” he says. “Jeremy was a strong advocate for refugees, and he was an inspiration to me. I highly recommend studying abroad.”

Jason went on to work with refugees as a peace-building volunteer with the Population Caring Organization in Buduburam, Ghana, at a camp that housed 40,000 refugees, more than 95 percent of whom were from Liberia. “The camp was in its 18th year when I worked there,” he says, “and my duties had a wide range, including helping the single mothers, training staff members, keeping the books and providing conflict resolution, which was a real challenge.”

The elders of the tribes comprised an Elder Council for tribal reconciliation, and one day Jason was told: “You know about conflict resolution. Help with this.” He says one of the first things he did was change the meetings’ seating configuration, “from sitting in regimented rows to groups sitting in circles. A Guilford College student would’ve felt right at home.”

The success of that experience, he says, was an infusion of hope: “I realized that I could do things not just in the abstract, but in the face of horrifying realities — things that really mattered, that truly helped people.”

Now he’s back in D.C., finishing the master’s in International Peace and Conflict Resolution. He credits Guilford College with preparing him academically. “I took AP English in high school, but in my freshman year English class at Guilford, I got beaten up [metaphorically] by the professor over my writing, and that experience brought very important issues to my consciousness. In fact, it compelled me to take the first steps toward becoming a good writer.”

He now says that the writing skills learned at Guilford have made the difference in graduate school. “One time a Guilford alumnus told me this about graduate school: Even if you don’t know the subject matter completely, you know how to write. So you’ll be fine. And he was right — the students here [at American University] with degrees from Harvard, Princeton … they have great degrees, but they can’t write. And when we get assignments that I look forward to, they just freak out!”

The Quaker tradition at Guilford College also “was a tremendous influence” on him, he says. “Social justice was why I went to Guilford. And my advice to high school students considering Guilford College is this — come for something different, for a chance to fill your life with varied and diverse experiences, but stay because you can grow. You will not find faculty and staff who care about you personally like this if you go to a large school.”

He sums it up: "My time at Guilford College expanded my perspective from that of a small-town boy to more of a worldview. You will grow, and you will be changed into a better person."