Alicia Herrick is a graduate student with the Center for Peacemaking & Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific University, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies. Originally from Holland, Michigan, Alicia completed her undergraduate studies in International Relations at Hope College and then moved to California shortly after graduation. Through her work at a school in Oakland, California, Alicia began to take an interest in Restorative Justice and a curiosity to discover how this alternative philosophy for conflict management can be used to transform punitive school discipline culture and both US and international legal systems. She moved to Fresno to further develop these interests and to gain an understanding in practical applications of restorative justice through studying with CPACS. She has also taken a position as a mediator working with juvenile offenders at the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program/Community Justice Conferencing. Alicia recently traveled to Israel and Palestine to learn about how restorative justice can be understood in the context of international conflict and peacemaking efforts.

In addition to Restorative Justice, Alicia loves to study other languages, to read good books and to try new foods. She hopes to travel to Guatemala this summer to work on improving her Spanish, and she is always looking for suggestions of great novels to read or restaurants to visit in Fresno or nearby.

Pivot Questions

1. What is your favorite word?

I don’t know that I have one.

2. What is your least favorite word?

I feel like the word “cute” is really overused.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?

I think artists that are able to make theology more relatable through modern metaphors and people talking about theology and restorative justice.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?

Patriarchal religious language.

5. What is your favorite CPACS word?

Equity.

6. What sound or noise do you love?

The sound of waves.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?

People filing their nails.

8. What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?

Either a hip-hop dancer or a civil engineer (something that’s completely in a different direction).

9. What profession would you not like to do?

A vet.

10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Something that indicates that he recognizes me.