On Monday, April 11, members of the Stevens chapter of Amnesty International set up for the Power of Faces Photo Exhibit, one of several events planned for the National Week of Student Action. The exhibit featured portraits of refugees and their families in order to “humanize the crisis and show that refugees are human beings with lives like everyone else,” Madeline Rys, President-elect, explained. Later that evening, photographers from Huang + Menders photography gave a talk, which was live-streamed on Amnesty’s Facebook page, about their experiences with photojournalism and photo activism in refugee camps.
Amnesty International held other events throughout the week, including a documentary screening, a silent protest and info session regarding the Refugees Welcome Proclamation, a Life Vest Display, a Butterfly Display, a Refugee Advocacy Panel, and the Luminary Lighting. The Luminaries event, co-hosted by the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the SGA, featured an arrangement of candles which spelled out, “We welcome refugees.” Although some of the aforementioned events relied heavily on the visual appeal to shed light on the refugee and resettlement crisis, the most impactful event, according to Rys, was the Refugee Advocacy Panel. The reasoning being, as one of the expert panelists said, “Activism is most powerful when you reach a small group but touch them deeply.”
Rys elaborated that Stevens students are often busy with academic work and other career-related endeavors and, as a result, fail to engage with social justice issues. The Refugees Welcome Proclamation, signed by a number of RSOs and SGA senators, declares that the “Stevens student body both acknowledges that the ongoing refugee crisis is a human rights violation and calls upon legislators to take measures to alleviate it,” Rys continued. Amnesty International strongly urges all students looking to get involved with social justice issues to attend their coffee chats and GBMs, and they hope to expand into the lobbying sector.
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