Students and others package meals for people in Darfur at the 2008 Building Bridges conference 'Kids Against Hunger' Food Packaging event. More than 48,000 meals were prepared. (Photo by Tom Roster)
“Geno” means people. “Cide” means killing.
Together they become genocide—the intent to deliberately destroy a people. It’s an issue that seems far away for most Americans but this spring Gustavus students addressed it head-on in the annual student-organized Building Bridges diversity conference.
On March 8, more than 1,200 students and other individuals attended the sold-out Building Bridges conference, “Genocide awareness: How will history judge us?” This year’s conference aimed to give students a means to defeat the notion that one person can’t make a difference.
Keynote speaker Paul Rusesabagina urged audience members to use words not weapons. Rusesabagina is the real-life hotel manager turned hero who was portrayed in the movie “Hotel Rwanda.” He shared his personal story of the 1994 killings in Rwanda, where he led people to safety.
The well-known Gustavus social justice theatre troupe, “I Am… We Are,” raised various issues related to genocide and other acts of hate in a thought-provoking 45-minute public performance.
Also during the conference, 48,000 meals were packaged for delivery to Darfur. More than 250 conference-goers participated in the not-for-profit Kids Against Hunger packaging event where nutritious meals of rice-soy casserole were prepared.
Gustavus students Asitha Jayawardena and Jing Han Soh served as co-chairs of the conference. The two formed a large committee that came together as a group. “It’s been one of the best things to happen to me at Gustavus,” Jayawardena said. “It allowed me to excel as a leader and spread awareness about a cause I am very passionate about.”
On the heels of the first sold out Building Bridges conference, Gustavus students also promoted justice through the annual Diversity Week.
Intentionally created to coincide with Building Bridges, Diversity Week is also planned by students for the campus community. The Diversity Leadership Council, representative of 14 different student organizations, and the Student Senate Diversity Committee work together to program and create the activities for the week.
“These events were designed to increase awareness about several local, regional, national, and global issues,” said Diversity Center Director Virgil Jones. “More importantly, several events gave members of our campus community opportunities to communicate with each other and dig beneath the surface on a variety of topics. Our main intent is to highlight issues, facilitate conversation, impact individuals, and uplift all of humanity.”
Diversity Week and Building Bridges are pillars of the college’s commitment to justice.