Just a few weeks after President George W. Bush labeled the situation in Darfur, Sudan “genocide,” a group of Georgetown students decided that they could not stand idly by. The students came together and formed a group called “S.T.A.N.D.: Students Taking Action Now Darfur!” and began organizing on their campus...
The students educated themselves first by reading Samantha Power’s A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide, a book that explores why American leaders failed to intervene to stop genocides of the past. From Power’s book, they learned that leaders of the past were aware of genocides like the one in Rwanda as they unfolded, but had failed to act because there was no political will for them to do so. With no political cost to inaction in the face of genocide, elected officials did nothing, or too little, too late.
The students at Georgetown set out to build the political will necessary to force American leaders to act to end genocide in Darfur. They educated their campus through speakers and events, went to Capitol Hill to talk to their elected officials, and began reaching out to schools in other places to join the fight. By 2005, as word spread, S.T.A.N.D. chapters began to spring up at colleges nationwide.
As the movement grew, student leaders recognized that national coordination was necessary in order to unify and strengthen the message and avoid duplication of efforts. In December 2005, at a Darfur conference organized by students at Harvard University, S.T.A.N.D.'s first national Managing Committee was formed. This small group of students sought to develop and lead a national strategy on Darfur and provide their peers with the resources to effectively advocate for Darfur.
In May 2006, S.T.A.N.D.’s second Managing Committee voted to merge with the Genocide Intervention Network(GI-Net), another organization started by students at Swarthmore College, under a shared vision of creating a permanent anti-genocide constituency among both students and communities. The students also decided to officially change their name from “S.T.A.N.D.: Students Taking Action Now Darfur” to “STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network,” to reflect STAND’s broadened focus on multiple conflicts and new partnership with GI-Net. STAND and GI-Net now move forward as one force in their mobilizing efforts on Darfur and conflicts beyond, sharing resources, expertise, and office space in Washington, D.C.
STAND remains entirely student-run, led by a Leadership Team of college and high school students around the country who are dedicated to ending genocide. Through daily emails, weekly conference calls, and semesterly strategy retreats in Washington, D.C., the STAND Leadership Team develops, implements, and delivers campaigns and materials to chapters all over the world.
Since it’s founding in 2004, STAND has become the clearinghouse for student anti-genocide activism and has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Politico, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Sudan Tribune, Rolling Stone, National Public Radio, CNN, and in hundreds of other publications. With more than 850 chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges in more than 25 countries worldwide, STAND is truly leading the movement to end genocide in our time.
