Community Mediation in a University Context

In October 1979 the first university-based mediation service in the United States was born in the political science department of the University of Hawaii. Student and faculty volunteers developed an administrative system in facilities donated by the university. Mediation trainers were brought in to train the first 18 mediators who represented a cross section of the community. Student and faculty volunteers conducted outreach to citizen groups and agencies, the arranging and staffing of mediations, the collection of case materials and records, and the training of new mediators. This paper reports on the outcomes of the first nine months of the project’s operation.Note: This working paper was originally published in 1982 by the Institute for the Study of Social Change, now the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues