Students rally in New York for Darfur.
Nearly 1,100 Jewish students from 32 campuses joined over 20,000 activists in New York’s Central Park on Sunday, September 17 to rally in solidarity with the people of Darfur.
“Hillel’s voice was loud and clear, a visible and vocal presence in the movement to end genocide in Darfur,” said Michelle Lackie, director of the Weinberg Tzedek Hillel program.
Many of the students came from the New York area while many others traveled several hours by bus and car to attend the rally.
Students from Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., wore t-shirts silk-screened by a Sudanese refugee who is a student at a nearby community college. The student came with the Hillel group to New York City and shared his story with the 50 students during their five-hour bus ride to the rally.
The 28 students who attended from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill drove six hours to University of Maryland Hillel where they spent the night on the floor before joining the Maryland group on a bus to the rally.
“All afternoon we were impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the students who came to New York only a week or two after their fall semester began,” said Lackie. “Many Hillels partnered with other campus organizations to bring students to the rally, establishing Hillel as a key leader in Darfur activism and social justice on campus.”
Does Darfur Activism pay off? American University Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Kenneth Cohen believes it does. Hillel, which organized two buses for the rally, has been at the forefront of promoting Darfur awareness on the Washington, D.C., campus. The university’s Board of Trustees this week voted to divest from companies doing business in Darfur.
Additional stories:
Protests Target Violence in Darfur
Rallying for Darfur