7/26/99

Ulster Project Travels to Tusculum College
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Twenty-four students involved in an international peace initiative called the Ulster Project arrived the Tusculum College campus on Monday, July 26, for a day-long session.

The Ulster project is a peacekeeping initiative organized 26 years ago by a Northern Ireland clergyman, the Reverend Kerry Waterstone. On a trip to the United States, Waterstone was inspired by the ecumenical spirit in the suburban community in Connecticut where he was serving as a pastor. He began inviting Irish youths to the United States to share in this experience.

Each year, communities across the country sponsor a group of twelve Irish young people, divided equally by gender and by religious tradition. Host communities arrange for volunteer families to participate. The visiting Irish youth are matched with an American young person of the same sex and religion. The entire group of twenty-four students participates in a month long program that encourages understanding across social barriers.

Mary Jo McCarty, coordinator of the Kingsport chapter of the Ulster Project, said that the goal of the project was to discourage young people from joining paramilitary groups as they gain adulthood. "The project has been 100 percent effective in meeting this goal," McCarty said. She is a member of St. Dominick's Church in Kingsport, which is the coordinating congregation for the project.

At Tusculum, the group spent the morning on team-building activities and worked together in the afternoon on service projects in the community, including a trip to Plaza Towers and Morningside Retirement Centers, where they performed skits and dances.

Following a potluck dinner, members of the East Tennessee State Bluegrass Band performed bluegrass and old-time music.