

The Center for Restorative Practices, housed in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, fosters an inclusive, engaging campus climate where all members have the tools and experiences necessary to engage in meaningful, restorative dialogue around community and conflict; where conflict management is not viewed as an end in and of itself, but where transforming conflict is seen as a pathway to a stronger, caring and more just community.
To do this, we aim to answer these two transformational questions:
The CRP is working towards transformational change by reimagining how we engage, live with, and respect each other, focusing on restorative community building and education.
PROFESSOR ALLEN HART
Inaugural Director of the Center for Restorative Practices
Suzanne Belleci, director of the Center for Restorative Practices, provides an overview of the goals and work of the Center for Restorative Practices.
Restorative practices is an emerging social science with deep roots within indigenous communities throughout the world. It studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities.
A campus-wide collaborative effort to incorporate restorative philosophies and practices into the Amherst community
To prioritize the building, maintaining, and, when harmed, repairing of relationships between all members of the community
By teaching, learning, and practicing how to engage in conflict we understand our impact and our avenues for healing.
Sitting in circle is as old as human gathering. Restorative Circles include Community Building Circles, Reparative Circles, Re-Integration Circles, Collaborative Decision-Making Circles, as a way to equitably share thoughts and experiences, create common ground, develop a stronger sense of community, repair harm and re-integrate those who have caused harm back into the community.
Offering interactive trainings to enhance knowledge, such as Identity and Conflict Transformation; Restorative Justice vs. Punitive Justice; Active Listening for Conflict Resolution; Circle Facilitation; Peer Mediation; Peer-Led Harm and Impact Circles, Dialog for Difficult Conversations; Reducing Social Media Harm; Apology and Amend Making, we share what we have learned.
Engaging with parties in conflict to bear witness to harm caused, holding each accountable for their part, and offering each support for their needs, participants sit with a skilled cross-cultural, multi-partial mediator. Our focus remains on repairing the relationships while reinforcing that there is no lasting peace without speaking your truth and feeling heard, valued, and believed.
Read an interview with Dr. Allen Hart and watch interviews with Directors Susie Belleci and Fabio Ayala. Also, read a piece from Eli Maierson '23 in the Amherst Student, #IntegrateAmherst: Restorative Justice Is Necessary But Insufficient.
To report bias incidents you can use the Identity-Based Harm Incident Report form or reach out to crp@amherst.edu
The CRP is developing a variety of restorative tools with the intention to build community and prepare all members to deal with the inevitable conflict that will arise even as we work to create a more inclusive Amherst. After harm, we begin with a structured listening session, followed by several restorative circles and then action planning to facilitate lasting attitude, awareness and behavior changes and to enhance well-being for all involved.