Student leaders engage students, faculty, visiting parents and others in creating greater campus engagement on global humanitarian issues.
BRISTOL, R.I. – An array of student clubs and organizations, as well as professors, staff, and visiting parents, came together on Sunday, October 23 to consider the role of the campus community in addressing global challenges and to gauge the level of campus knowledge and activism on a range of topics regarding humanitarian issues.
The organizers’ goals for the inaugural Student Humanitarian Summit – part of the Quest for Refuge Series, a year-long series of events and programming at RWU that will examine the political and cultural impact of refugees around the world – were to inform and inspire students to start or continue working on ways to address the need for alleviation of suffering worldwide, and map out collaborative plans for the rest of the year to engage more students and the broader campus community in humanitarian causes. Roger for Refugees, along with the Spiegel Center for Global and International Programs, and a working group of students, spent a month planning the event, which was co-sponsored by six other clubs and organizations on campus.
From a panel presentation by student-led groups active in social justice issues on- and off-campus to an engaging conversation with a researcher of post-conflict humanitarian efforts, the event featured a good turnout of invested students who expressed a desire to build greater awareness and engagement on many issues relating to international development and humanitarian affairs.