Students Taking Action Now: Darfur organized a marathon call-in to the State Department on Monday, asking for continued support for the people of the Darfur region of Sudan.
The event came at a critical time-the African Union is moderating the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on Darfur through the end of this week.
Hundreds of students called from a phone at STAND’s table in Red Square, organizer Patrick Schmitt (SFS ‘06) said. The calls emphasized providing diplomatic support for the peace talks as well as protection for the civilians of Darfur.
STAND member Sasha Kinney (SFS ‘06) said the call-in was a way to “make more noise” and show officials how many people care about this issue.
“We appreciate getting input from groups like STAND, since administration officials develop foreign policies by listening to the views of the American people,” Amanda D. Rogers-Harpe a State Department Spokesperson, said.
Political action like Monday’s call-in is only one part of STAND’s three-pronged approach, which includes raising awareness about the situation in Darfur and collecting funds for humanitarian assistance. STAND’s efforts have drawn attention from both students and multi-national organizations.
“STAND is an example of a student group with a message who have been able to gain access at a very high level to folks on Capital Hill,” Colin Thomas-Jensen, advocacy and media assistant for the International Crisis Group, said. “They’re part of a broader community of activists in the country that have worked to move the administration toward appropriate policies in Darfur.”
United by one idea, putting a stop to the genocide in Darfur, a group of Georgetown students founded STAND last September. Only a year later, it has grown to 1,000 students at Georgetown alone, and branches have appeared in over 200 schools in the United States and Canada.
STAND won a $40,000 grant from Reebok and MTV-U last spring to fund two conferences and other national outreach initiatives.
This weekend, 12 group members will travel to New York City for a Sudan Activism conference at Columbia University. Bill Cosby, Bette Midler and Desmond Tutu will participate in a national fast next Thursday sponsored by the coalition of STAND chapters.
Though the group has come far since its birth last year, some remind STAND to focus on its end goal as it mobilizes supporters.
“There is a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the Georgetown STAND chapter,” Akenji Ndumu, program associate for public education and mobilization at Africa Action, a national Africa advocacy group, said. “They are not united as much as they should be and need to keep away from government PR.”
STAND seems well aware of the challenges it faces.
“It’s escalating. We’re keeping consistent pressure, doing outreach, networking with students nation-wide, collaborating and becoming more unified,” Kinney said.
