Remembering Dr. Robert Suggs

The founding members of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence note with sadness the passing of former AU provost Dr. Robert Suggs. He was provost in the early years of the 21st century. He was soft-spoken, but forthright. He was guided by deep spirituality.

Photo source

Dr. Suggs supported the local weekly vigil protesting the US government’s threat to invade Iraq in the winter of 2002-03. He sometimes joined the vigil that convened every Monday at the corner of Claremont and College Avenues and King Road. He also provided funds so that eloquent voices for peace—guest speakers of the caliber of Arun Gandhi, Yolanda King, and Jim Wallis—could be invited to campus in the years immediately after the invasion of Iraq and the war that followed. Those speakers drew large audiences that encouraged the former vigil participants, led by Dr. John Stratton, to establish a permanent organization that became the Ashland Center for Nonviolence.

Dr. Suggs retired to Florida with his wife Mary, where they were active in the Faith Covenant Church of Saint Petersburg. He is survived by his wife, four children, and their families. The Ashland Center for Nonviolence acknowledges the generous moral and material support provided by Dr. Suggs in its earliest formation.