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It’s true what Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”
Every successful organization has little groups within it, completing the larger body. Arizona State University STAND is no exception. The ASU chapter is small, a group of 8 committed members. Size, however, does not matter. As long as those individuals are eager and passionate, anything can happen.
This past year has been a year of development for this chapter, and ASU STAND believes it is just the beginning. As activists around the world participated in Holocaust Remembrance Week, ASU STAND hosted Genocide Awareness Week. This week was comprised of daily events to promote awareness and understanding of why and how genocide occurs and what we all can do to stop it. ASU STAND networked with other social justice organizations on campus such as Nuru International, Invisible Children, and Student Advocates for Global Justice and United Students for Fair Trade. We also worked with two incredible community activists in our area – Carl Wilkens Fellows Cory Williams, first year Fellow, and current Fellow, Kim Klett. The events during this week entailed freeze flash mobs, panel dinners and walks along campus.
ASU STAND members joined up with the other organizations on Monday and Friday to demonstrate the importance of global awareness on campus grounds. They made shirts that stated “Imagine” with different statistics about the issues in Darfur, Congo, Uganda and Burma. On Tuesday, forty students signed up with Nuru International and STAND to walk one mile on campus carrying a bucket of water on their heads. The reason for this mile trip was to raise awareness about the women in Africa who miss out on school because they have to walk miles for somewhat clean water to survive. Wednesday night STAND showed the documentary, “God Grew Tired of Us,” that tells the story about three Lost Boys of Sudan who settled in the U.S, and local Lost Boys came to the event to raise money for their Phoenix Shelter.
The week ended with a big bang on Thursday night as a dinner titled Humanitarian Crises and Genocide: Survivors and Experts Speak Out. The dinner featured survivors from the Holocaust, Rwanda and Bhutan who told their stories and why they thought students should get involved in this movement. ASU STAND could not have put on this week without the help of the two amazing Carl Wilkens Fellows, Cory and Kim, all of the organizations on campus that came out to support our cause and the students at ASU willing to take a stand. Never think that any dream is too big because we all can make a difference.