“We always hear the mantra, ‘never again,’ and we have an obligation to act,” says Anna Thompson, a senior at the University of North Carolina, and founder of Students United for Darfur Awareness Now (SUDAN). “As a people who have been persecuted our entire existence, when another group is persecuted, it’s important that we stand up and speak out.”
Thompson is part of a growing trend in Jewish campus life. In collaboration with campus Hillels and other Jewish groups, organizations fighting the ongoing genocide in Darfur are raising awareness about the situation among students across the country.
Darfur, located in Western Sudan, has been devastated by an ongoing conflict between the government-supported Arab Janjaweed militia and three black African ethnic groups – all of whom are Muslim. Hundreds of thousands of black Africans have been killed, and a million more have been turned into refugees. The situation, which has been referred to both as ethnic cleansing and genocide, raises concerns for many, including those in the Jewish community who were brought up with an acute awareness of the terrible effects of the Holocaust.
Jordan Steiner, a second-year student at the University of California-Davis, is currently working to launch a chapter of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) – a national group with 35 chapters around the country – on her campus. “This is the perfect time to get involved, because we are becoming more educated,” said Steiner. “We’re realizing what is going on. We have the opportunity to do something with the power we have in college.”
With Steiner’s help, UC-Davis’ Hillel and the Cal Aggie Christian Association hosted an event called “Never Again: Genocide from Europe to Sudan.” The event, held on the November anniversary of Kristallnacht, featured a speech from the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, along with an African studies professor. “Because we’ve experienced it, we need to make sure other people don’t,” said UC-Davis fourth-year Rebecca Blatt, who attended the “Never Again” event. “I think Jews should be taking a bigger interest in what’s happening. We should be doing something other than talking.”
Lisa Rogoff, the University Outreach Coordinator for the Committee on Conscience, a branch of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, organized a conference on Darfur in September for students to meet, discuss the issues, and learn about legislation. Another conference is planned for February. Rogoff wants students to get involved because “they have the resources and the motivation to make their voices heard.”
SUDAN founder Anna Thompson hopes to organize many events on her campus. Next semester, she says, “people want to start having vigils every week. We’re going to be focusing on raising money to send to humanitarian aid organizations over there.” The fund-raising will include selling green Livestrong-style bracelets that read “Not on our watch. Save Darfur.” Green is the color of the Darfur awareness ribbon.
Students like Thompson see events in Sudan – no matter how remote from their campuses – as a pressing concern. “Everyone can volunteer in a soup kitchen or tutor high school kids, but the situation [in Darfur] is terrible,” says Thompson. “People feel the need to act, but don’t know what to do.” Now, “people are jumping on” the opportunity to take action through SUDAN. “It’s been really encouraging that so many college-age students feel so passionate about this.”
