By Grace Mundy & Dveen Hagopian
One of the many educational and community-engaging student groups the school has to offer is the Amnesty International student group, which is a non-governmental organization that focuses on advocating for human rights. The group meets every Tuesday during lunch, giving students the opportunity to come together and discuss important international civil rights issues they believe should be fought for.
“The club is essentially part of a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for everyone, no matter where they may be from. We work to ensure that justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are achieved all around the world,” junior Rocco Fantini said. Fantini founded the group with junior Cassidy Dalva.
Over the course of each meeting, students are educated about a different human rights violation that has taken place. Whether it be here in the United States or in a country on the other side of the world, they are determined to take action and do whatever they can to help prevent injustice.
Students in Amnesty International recently advocated for the release of a Russian feminist who was under house arrest for creating anatomical drawings of the human body that were deemed inappropriate by the Russian government. The students wrote letters to the Russian Ambassador about the wrongful house arrest in an attempt to counteract this unfair sentencing.
Letter campaigns are one of the many ways in which the group assists victims of human rights violations. Students also utilize social media to reach out to people from different countries.
Many students hope to create positive change in the world, and feel that Amnesty International is a great way to accomplish that.
“I decided to start this club because I was interested in participating in something not only related to International Relations, but also to making a difference in the world. Amnesty International is the largest grassroots movement worldwide which focuses on human rights issues that often have a lot of interplay with politics, which is interesting to learn about as well,” Dalva said.
Amnesty International, although only recently established on campus, has already made a positive impact on campus, and members find it rewarding to be part of such a respectable movement.
“It is a very interactive organization on campus. I feel like student participation is very important to the club. It also helps me to participate in international matters and participate in the world around me,” junior David Lu said.
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