Students, faculty and community members met on the second floor of the Center for Faith and Life (CFL) on January 10 for the opening reception for “The F Word: Stories of Forgiveness” exhibit. The exhibit is a part of The Forgiveness Project and will be housed at Luther until January 24. 

The Forgiveness Project is a secular organization that uses personal stories to explore how concepts of reconciliation, conflict resolution and dialogue can be used to break cycles of violence and restore hope. The organization was founded in 2004 by journalist Marina Cantacuzino in London. U.S. Exhibit Curator Louisa Hext elaborated on the purpose of the exhibit. 

“[We] tell stories of people who, in the face of atrocity, have responded without vengeance,” Hext said. “[Vengeance] not a radical response. A radical response would be, God forbid this would happen to you, you lost a family member, and all of a sudden you say ‘I forgive you’ immediately. Unlikely.”

There are two versions of “The F Word: Stories of Forgiveness” exhibit — one that travels around North America and one that stays in the United Kingdom. The exhibit contains stories from South Africa, North America, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Rwanda and England. Two stories are featured on posters on the first floor of the CFL while the rest are hung in a gallery setting on the second floor. 

Director of College Ministries and College Pastor Melissa Bills and Professor of Psychology Loren Toussaint spoke alongside Hext at the opening reception. Toussaint was familiar with the work of The Forgiveness Project but only connected with the organization in April. 

“I had a conference that I was at in April, and I had known of this exhibit and the work that was being done by the project for 20 years,” Toussaint said. “I didn’t realize that when I went to this conference the exhibit would be there, and I didn’t realize that I would meet anyone from the forgiveness project. I certainly didn’t think that anyone would be offering that they would bring this international exhibit to us here at Luther College.” 

Toussaint partnered with College Ministries to bring “The F Word: Stories of Forgiveness” to Luther, a partnership Bills touched on in her opening words at the reception. 

“I am so grateful that I was invited by Professor Toussaint into this partnership to bring this exhibit to campus,” Bills said.

Over January Term, Toussaint is teaching a course called Psychology of Forgiveness and his students became active participants in setting up the exhibit. Hext thanked the students for their help, stating that this was the first time in her 13 years of setting up the exhibit that she had help, which brought the setup time down from over four hours to just under one hour. Hext also allowed the students to choose which order the stories should go in. 

The stories Toussaint’s students chose to highlight on the first floor of the CFL were one about the Rwandan Genocide and one about the last round of violence between Israel and Palestine. Hext highlighted that this was a unique decision. 

“The students chose to highlight those two pieces downstairs, which is really powerful,” Hext said. “I’m not sure I would have selected those.”

Between the stories on the second floor of the CFL are blank books for viewers to write in. Bills explained that they can be treated as a guest book or used to record reflections or responses. Alyssa Strampe (‘25) attended the reception and appreciated how the exhibit helped her to reflect on what forgiveness actually is. 

“I thought it was really cool how they took a unique perspective on forgiveness,” Strampe said. “When I heard ‘The Forgiveness Project,’ I thought it would be about why we should forgive others and how to become more forgiving. I appreciated how instead of that, it focused more on having empathy and the power of working to truly understand why someone acted the way they did. I feel like this exhibit has changed the way I think about forgiveness and has helped me better understand what forgiveness actually entails.”

Hext believes that the exhibit is an exercise in empathy, an exercise that will be available to the Decorah community through next month. Following its time at Luther, “The F Word: Stories of Forgiveness” will go to the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah.

“Some of us are not wired for empathy, empathy being standing in someone else’s shoes, but we can build that muscle by engaging in conversation and knowing the other,” Hext said. “Because when you know the other, when you get to know that person, it’s really hard to dislike them.”