Social Justice

Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison volunteering with PAVE (Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment) are hosting a number of events to honor October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. PAVE dedicates itself to preventing sexual assault and dating and domestic violence through campus education and activism, challenging the cultural norms and attitudes that encourage sexual abuse. Since its establishment in 2001, PAVE has hosted a multitude of events promoting safety within relationships. This month, PAVE will host inspirational speaker Wambui Bahati to perform a piece that depi

Students at Brown University joined dining services workers as nearly 200 protesters gathered in response to proposed changes to the workers’ health care costs. Brown University has suggested replacing the current system with a “sliding scale” in which workers would pay premiums in proportion to their salary. Currently, all Brown Dining Service employees pay 6 percent of the premiums. Three student organizations were instrumental in coordinating the protest rally. Brown’s Student Labor Alliance, Students for a Democratic Society, and Real Food at Brown teamed with Rhode Island Jobs with

By Meryl Dakin and Levi Pine Now that the dust has settled on the roughly 7,000 person strong G-20 protest at the University of Pittsburgh, many are crying foul over police conduct towards student protesters and bystanders. Last week, protesters from around the country, many of whom were college students, demonstrated outside the G-20 economic summit held at the University of Pittsburgh campus.  Among their objections to the meetings were complaints that such important economic decisions are made by a handful of people behind closed doors. While the protest itself has gotten wide

By Meryl Dakin and Levi Pine Now that the dust has settled on the roughly 7,000 person strong G-20 protest at the University of Pittsburgh, many are crying foul over police conduct towards student protesters and bystanders. Last week, protesters from around the country, many of whom were college students, demonstrated outside the G-20 economic summit held at the University of Pittsburgh campus.  Among their objections to the meetings were complaints that such important economic decisions are made by a handful of people behind closed doors. While the protest itself has gotten wide

Students, organized through a grassroots group Justice for Jason, are calling for all charges to be dropped in what they believe to be a racially motivated prosecution of UMass-Amherst student Jason Vassell. Vassell, an African American, faces a 30 year prison sentence for using a pocketknife to defend himself against two drunken assailants. Justice for Jason was founded shortly after Vassell’s arrest, and is calling for all charges to be dropped. The committee has organized many events to raise awareness for Jason’s predicament, including a national call-in day to Northwestern District Att

Last Wednesday students around the country rallied to give their undocumented peers a path to higher education and citizenship. The rally was to promote passage of the DREAM Act, a bill that would allow states to charge illegal immigrants who graduate high school in the U.S. in-state tuition and would give those students legal status for six years. Students from Florida to New Mexico organized events, with participation from a wide variety of student and immigrant rights groups. Students at the University of Florida recreated the hardships of an illegal immigrant student by holding two mock

A crowd of 250 Penn State students marched down Pollock Road to show their intolerance for sexual violence this past Friday. The demonstration, a first for the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA), included students from many different activist groups all chanting, “We are against sexual violence.” The march is a response to the increasing reports of sexual assault on campus. UPUA hopes to create awareness and make a visible stand against sexual violence. Committee Chairman for Student Life and Diversity Christian Ragland, a junior political science major, said the march w

Lowes Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) donated $250,000 to the United Negro College Fund's Emergency Student Aid Campaign to help African American students hurt by the recession reach graduation in their senior year. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the largest minority education organization in the country with 39 member historically black colleges and universities including Morehouse College and Tuskegee University. Their Emergency Student Aid Campaign aims to raise $5 million in tax-deductible gifts along with gifts of school supplies like textbooks and lab coats.