Cold Weather Stirs Up Justice

A common purpose for student-led organizations and clubs at Gustavus is to make a difference. Actions Supporting All People (ASAP) is one Gustavus student organization in particular that aspires to make a positive impact on campus and also on the larger society.

ASAP is a grassroots social-justice organization, which is based upon the ideals of thinking globally and acting locally. Through education awareness and action, ASAP members strive to support universal equality on a campus and community level. Throughout the year, ASAP activities include campus-wide events, community awareness projects, service initiatives, activism, as well as respecting the diversity of people and ideas, and general peacefulness.

One specific activity ASAP is known for on campus is the annual November sleep out to mark National Hunger and Homelessness Week. During that time ASAP coordinates events, including a three-night sleep out in front of Christ Chapel, to raise awareness of homelessness.

ASAP’s week-long Hunger and Homelessness observance helps educate students and other community members about homelessness. For sleep-out participants, it gives them a small taste of what it is like to be without a home. During the sleep out, basic necessities of life are sacrificed in order to experience the harsh reality of what it is like to be without food and a roof over one’s head. Students and a few faculty members attempt to create an awareness of the plight of the homeless by sleeping outside (or inside) of Chapel. They do not return to their residence halls, apartments, or homes; they go without showering; and they eat only food that others provide. ASAP organizers hope that the activity participants bring their realizations back to their own communities.

“Poverty within our own country is ignored. Hunger and Homeless Week is ASAP’s way of trying to show students that yes, this happens in our country,” said ASAP President Kira O’Bradovich ’08. She has participated in the event all four years of her time at Gustavus.

“It’s not just on TV or in big cities; we have a homeless teenager right here in St. Peter! We cannot sit back and scrutinize the attempts of groups trying to awaken our knowledge of the issues this country faces. Instead, we must do what we can to unmask the cruel realities of America,” O’Bradovich said.

Given the time to reflect on the week, most of the students realize that it has changed their initial attitudes on homelessness and above all transformed their individual character. “Many students who sleep out are at first skeptical of the impact and experience—they feel it won’t make any difference. I will admit I myself felt this way at first, but after the first night out in the cold, I was forever changed,” commented O’Bradovich. “This basic experience was enough to make me realize just how terrible the real thing must be. I learned that a majority of homeless people have jobs and that they have to wake up to every morning of those long, cold winter nights. Many have children, many are disabled, and that the system provides no way out of this terrible life.”

O’Bradovich foresees her future being dedicated to providing other experiences like this to more people. “My hope is to work full time in a social justice, non-profit after college. I have realized that I want to devote my life to work for a more just society. I want to have an impact and inspire others to do the same,” she said.

In addition to Hunger and Homelessness Week, ASAP hosts “Pieces of Peace” Week in the spring that has focused on Darfur and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and “Know Your Corporations” Month, which exposes corporations that are “ruining” the world.

ASAP also intentionally collaborates with other social-justice minded groups on campus. For example, ASAP has worked with Amnesty International, SHIFT (Students Helping Integrate Fair Trade), the Greens, Queers & Allies, Democracy Matters, and others.