I moved to Saudi Arabia when I was 8-years-old. I became a student in a school unlike any I had been in; I was one of five Americans in my grade, and the rest were from all over the world. My best friends were from Lebanon, France, Sweden, and India. Every time something happened in the world, it wasn’t just a current event or something you read in the news- it was something that affected one of my close friends’ relatives or friends in their home country. Things happening in different countries were suddenly much more personal and real than they ever had been before.

ASU STAND Chapter and Darfur and Beyond Host STAND Up 4 Africa Conference

Name: Ashton Simmons

Position: National Education Coordinator

School: DePauw University

City: Greencastle, IN

What’s your story?

 Zach’s UpSTANDer Story

The State Department announced yesterday the creation of a Sudan negotiation support team, which will assist the U.S. diplomatic mission in Sudan in facilitating the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) implementation process. The support team, led by veteran U.S.

According to reports by the Washington Post and Foreign Policy magazine’s Turtle Bay blog, the Obama administration will push for a commission of inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

Press coverage of STAND’s national day of action has begun to trickle in. Today’s Cape Cod Times features an article about tonight’s protest in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

As we mentioned yesterday, Foreign Policy magazine’s The Cable blog reported divisions in the Obama administration over Sudan policy decisions. At a time of escalating violence in Darfur and the potential for all-out war between Northern and Southern Sudan, STAND activists are organizing in their communities to convey the urgency of the situation to administration officials.

A recent report by Foreign Policy magazine’s Josh Rogin suggests that the Obama administration is divided over the implementation strategy for the administration’s Sudan policy, which was released to last October. The administration–in particular, President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, retired Maj. Gen.