Student News
Student Leaders Define social justice in First Annual Series By Lauren F. Carlson ’12
Aquinas junior Mariah Kennedy at Kids' Food Basket Event
Last winter, Aquinas student leaders defined the term social justice on campus and in the surrounding community. A series of community outreach and educational events developed by the Social Action Committee, Student Senate Diversity Committee, Habitat for Humanity, and Community Action Volunteers of Aquinas (CAVA), invited the entire student body to participate in the first annual Aquinas Social Justice Series. “Social Justice to me is recognizing the dignity of every human being within a society,” said former Social Action Committee Coordinator Annie Parks ’12. “It is searching, working, and fighting for equality through nonviolent social action.” Parks hosted the first event on January 13, and invited Elemental Project founders Jonathan Williams, Travis Fahlen, Brian Dokter, and Timm Bloem to the Moose Café to discuss local and international positive news, an industry in which their online publication thrives. “I believe social justice is taking action to move a society toward equality for all human beings,” said former AQ Habitat Coordinator Brittany Reed ’11 who, with the help of the organization’s president Jason Tiedemann, hosted the second event on January 20. The group welcomed Kent County Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Coordinator and homeowner Jonie Jessup, and AmeriCorps Volunteer Recruiter Joanna Dykhuis, who discussed their mission to end homelessness and promote homeowner and sustainability education. Following the weeknight event, 15 students, the maximum capacity, committed to a local, eight-hour home build on January 23. “Social justice to me means working to educate about and correct a wrong you see in society,” said former Director of Student Senate Diversity Committee, Adam Hii ’11. On January 26, Hii hosted Local First Communication Director, Dan Truel ’09, in the Moose Café. Truel discussed the opportunities for social justice in a communications capacity, and the mission and programs of Local First to support local businesses. “[Social Justice] is when people in your community, your country, and the world…raise awareness and inspire everyone to take action to get rid of the social injustices that exist in the world,” says former CAVA Assistant Coordinator Adriana Facundo ’12. Facundo and former CAVA Coordinator Hannah Barker ’12 created three separate events for the series. On February 3, Christine Lentini ’77, head of fund development and community outreach at Kids’ Food Basket, spoke on the organization’s mission to end hunger for Grand Rapids school children. After the lecture, over 20 students volunteered to decorate paper lunch sacks for the organization’s school lunch program. “For us to live in a socially just world, every person would be free from oppression, racism, sexism, hunger, poverty and have access to all of the resources which give someone a meaningful life like education, clean water, a home,” said Barker. On February 5, she led 12 students in a day of volunteering at Rays of Hope for Haiti, a non-profit institution that donates supplies to medical missions. The event was catered by Chez Olga, a Haitian restaurant in Eastown, whose owner has close ties to Rays of Hope. Lastly, CAVA hosted Sowhope’s founder, Mary Daily Brown, at Rowster’s Coffee on February 8, for an open discussion on poverty in the third world and the organization’s mission of providing holistic aid to women in struggling nations. Together, Parks, Hii, Reed, Facundo, and Barker worked to develop an educational and entertaining series of events which attracted a large number of students, revived retired student clubs, and created a lasting interest in social justice. As current student leaders look forward to the coming years of AQ Social Justice, they hope that their successors will further the legacy of social justice events on campus.
Timm Bloemm of the Elemental Project 14 Student News | Fall 2011 | aquinas.edu