The choice to have a peace pole on campus was an important one, past president and board member Lynn Bartley said. 

"Some of the GLUNA board members decided to ask MSU if we could… plant a peace pole on the MSU campus, because we see the thousands of people from all over the world who are on campus, whether they're students or professors or visitors," Bartley said. 

The peace pole is a six sided, cedar pole and on each of the six sides the words "May Peace Prevail on Earth" are written in two different languages, for 12 different languages in total. 

"So we started out with a four sided pole, but that was only eight languages, and we just couldn't decide," Bartley said. "So we made it into the six sided which is much more substantial and beautiful."

The languages do not represent their countries of origin. Instead, they represent the world and individuals of the world, Bartley said. 

"Many people who speak each of those languages are people who want peace, but some of the languages are challenging, because there are people who may not be working for peace," Bartley said. "So it's aspirational. We want everybody to work toward peace, to come together to work toward peace."

A significant part of the ceremony held for the Peace Pole planting was the unveiling of the Peace Pole. Two members of GLUNA were given this task, BreAsia Fletcher and William Root. 

Fletcher is a student at Lansing Community College. When she graduated from high school in 2023, she received the Global Education Student of the Year Award and since then has been a member of GLUNA.

Alongside her was Root, whose 101st birthday aligned with the planting of the Peace Pole. Bartley said that Root has been involved in GLUNA for many, many years and "he has also spent his life working toward peace."

"I thought that it was so kind that I was asked to do it, and then with Mr. Root… it just made me feel totally ecstatic," Fletcher said.

Fletcher’s favorite part of the ceremony was when a speaker of each language listed on the pole stepped up and read "May Peace Prevail" in their language.

"I think people like putting themselves aside, not for the greater good necessarily, but just to commune with each other was just very heartwarming to see," Fletcher said. 

GLUNA is a citizen membership organization made up of volunteers and has been in existence since 1959. The organization welcomes people of all ages. 

"The mission is to educate the community about the United Nations and encourage their support of the United Nations and its many agencies," Bartley said. 

The Peace Pole was part of a greater initiative called PeaceQuest to recognize the International Day of Peace. PeaceQuest has been a part of GLUNA since 2015.

PeaceQuest takes place throughout the month of September with events held almost every day. Some events are organized by GLUNA, but the initiative is in collaboration with many other community organizations and groups. 

Bartley said that GLUNA wanted this sense of collaboration and community to be reflected in the Peace Pole.  

"We wanted to involve many people so that there's ownership. And so there were many individuals and GLUNA members and friends who donated," Bartley said. "We also reached out to organizations, because, again, it's a community project that way. So it wasn't just GLUNA, we're planting this. There's ownership across our community. So it was very moving."

Now that the peace pole is planted and has its home at MSU, Bartley occasionally goes to sit near it and watch as people notice it and study it for the first time. 

"We hope that this poll will be a meeting place that brings together people of all faiths, backgrounds and cultures, serving as a continuous reminder to work together for peace, and that's really what it's all about," Bartley said.