This instrumental case study offers a thick and rich description of a restorative justice circle intervention between part-time graduate assistant employees, and full-time members of the Residence Life leadership team at a major Midwestern university implementing restorative justice use in its residence halls. This thesis offers an in-depth, qualitative look at the experience of the two primary characters in this conflict--a graduate student and a director. Using Constructivist epistemology through the lenses of Conflict Theory and Feminist Standpoint Theory, it analyzes letters, e-mails, meeting minutes and interviews done individually and jointly to document the participants' transition from antagonists to colleagues as they worked through their differences using a restorative justice process and framework. This is just one example of how a restorative approach to conflict produced positive, lasting results where a traditional (punitive) approach could not, yet it has implications for broader use in our society. As Restorative Justice Coordinator and facilitator of this circle, I present this case study both to document the resolution of this conflict and to provide a guide to other facilitators considering using this process in their universities, schools, workplaces, homes or anywhere people interact.
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