Social Justice Week 2019 Built on History with Unity Project, Dear World

Photo Source // Amy Reglin

By: Morgan Jacobus, Staff Writer

This year’s social justice week is one of the most successful in recent memory due to the new unity project and increased attendance at events. Social justice week is an annual Regis tradition that began in the early 2000s, then hosted by the Social Justice and Spirituality Committee, which is now the Social Justice and Diversity Council. 

“What they did was around the deaths of American and non-American soldiers in a war in the Middle East, so they camped on the quad and that was… the first social justice week. That was how it started, and it was definitely more focused, I think, on our Jesuit spirituality,” said RUSGA Vice President of Social Justice and Diversity Regi Worles.

For this year’s Social Justice and Diversity week the programming committee was headed by Emma Menchaca-Chavez and Regi Worles, with Malia Olson as the project manager along with contributors Alex Rucker, Guillermo Barbella, and Eleanor Ruth.  

“They wanted to have events every day that basically involved everybody so anybody could interact – [the unity project] is like an interactive art exhibit and anybody on campus could get involved,” said Rucker. 

There’s around 15 people on the Social Justice and Diversity Council, and they’ve been working on Social Justice week since mid-October. 

“That has pretty much been the bulk of our work, getting permission to do things like stake 33 things in the ground. I wasn’t expecting [Mike Redman, campus management] to say yes too easily,” said Worles. 

Since it was Worles’ last social justice week, he did more research this year, which led to the involvement of Dear World as well as the unity project. 

“I did a lot of research on what other schools do… so Dear World and the unity project are things that are national, and different campuses and different community organizations use those tools to talk about justice, but I kind of wanted to put them in conversation with some of our home-grown programming in order to have a more full and rich discussion of identity. I wanted these things to be able to speak to one another,” said Worles. 

The main goal of this year’s social justice week was connection, with the theme being “The Strings That Connect Us.” 

“We just want people to realize that we are not that different, we are all humans, even though we have labels and identities we are not just one thing, we are many things,” said Rucker. 

It’s not just about coming together as a community, it’s also about gaining better understanding of your own identities. Social justice week also explored what unity, solidarity, and the fight for justice looks like when everyone has their own experiences and differences. 

“What I really wanted it to be was simultaneously around exploring your identity and who you are, the things that make you you, and then also… the things about yourself that start to layer up on each other that then forms deep communities of understanding,” said Worles. 

When it came to the unity project itself, it drew a considerable amount of attention from those around campus. By the center pole was a table with yarn and instructions, prompting people around campus to contribute to the project as they passed by. As more people contributed their string, the web grew and became more connected. After social justice week, the Regis University Instagram posted pictures of the unity project describing it as “a tapestry of stories.”

“[It] just makes you very cognizant of how connected we actually are. You interact with people every day that you don’t know things about. I think especially somewhere where it is easy to feel tied to one group or siloed in one group it’s nice to have a visual representation that this many people are experiencing what I’ve experienced,” said Assistant Director of Fitness and Wellness, Sarah Wilkinson, who participated in the unity project. 

The unity project contributed to the high attendance and participation in this year’s social justice week. Worles explained that they bought about 60-70 balls of yarn, and nearly all of them were used in the unity project. In addition to the unity project, another prominent feature of the week was the Dear World event that occurred, where 60 people came to the closed shoot, and there were about 260 photographs taken at the open shoot. Further, the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday events all had around 50-75 people at them.

“This social justice week is the most attended social justice week… I know we were able to come in contact with more people than we have ever been able to come in contact with,” said Worles. 

Not only was this social justice week more innovative and widely participated in, it also demonstrated how much it has grown and how far it has come. 

“It felt really special in a way that it doesn’t necessarily flow every year. I have been a part of [it] since I was a first-year, and this was the year that I saw people that weren’t just my friends there… It was really affirming in so many different ways… At my heart, the reason I do the work is to do meaningful community building and it definitely feels like meaningful community building when different people from different backgrounds and with different beliefs are coming together to create something that I think so many people got to touch,” said Worles. 

When asked what his favorite part of the week was, he said all of it. This week was such a success in more ways than one. The campus was able to come together as a community, explore their individual and collective identities, have meaningful conversations, and the council was able to revel in what they had created as well as the relationships that were built.

The Peace Market

Photo Source // Amy Reglin

By: Rose Ferrie, Staff Reporter

For those of you who didn’t know, last week was social justice week, a time for education and fun events surrounding topics like sexuality, race, expression, intersectionality, and so much more. One of these lovely events was the peace market which was toward the end of the week. Though it was a chilly evening, people came out to listen to poetry and shop around at booths like Earth Links, Regis’ own crochet club, and more. Students were also invited to make their own essential oil blend and many people participated in the Unity Project, which was the beautiful yarn display up all week.

With DACA in Limbo, Students Fear Deportation

Photo source: abcnews.com

By Emily Summers, Practicum Reporter

Denise Maes, public policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, visited Regis University in November to discuss the current issue of immigration in our country. Maes addressed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as well as the Zero Tolerance Policy, with hundreds of students, faculty, and community members in the St. John Francis Regis Chapel. 

Maes first shared the stories and experiences of a few DACA students, and explained the situation many students of similar circumstances are facing: the fear of deportation. She discussed the changes the United States has faced under the current administration and described DACA as “in limbo.” Maes stated that she is not confident that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of DACA. 

She went on to further discuss immigration, specifically surrounding the Family Separation Policy in the U.S. After Trump’s executive order for a Zero Tolerance Policy, about three thousand children who had crossed the border into the United States were separated from their families. Maes explained the effects this separation had on these children.

“Every single child advocacy group … agrees that we have caused irreparable harm and trauma to these kids,” Maes said.

Following Maes, Regis faculty member Allison Peters read an anonymous story on behalf of a current Regis student. This student’s story depicted her life as an undocumented student in the United States. Growing up, this student explained her life, as an undocumented immigrant was full of fear and uncertainty. During her time at Regis, the student had received multiple threats, including death threats. Despite these obstacles, she has remained fairly optimistic.

“My story is one of thousands, but we are here, working for a better life, allies for those who stand for what is right. I, too, am a Regis student,” said Peters, reading the student’s remarks. 

Two Regis alumni also spoke to the group about their experiences as undocumented students. Each person had a unique story.

The event soon turned toward questions and answers between the speakers and the audience. 

The event, which was part of Social Justice Week on campus, stimulated conversation within the Regis community. Hearing the true, first-person stories from former undocumented immigrants themselves shed light on an incredibly relevant issue in our world today.

Colin Kaepernick and the importance of his message

Dr. Damien Thompson addresses students at Regis University //Rose Ferrie

By: Rose Ferrie, Staff Reporter

For those of you who didn’t know, this past week was Social Justice Week; there were many events pertaining to issues like feminism, anti-hate speech and sustainability. I attended an event regarding police brutality and Black Lives Matter. The Colin Kaepernick talk was a forum to open up the discussion about Black Lives Matter and police brutality, the criminalization of black men and men of color, and what Colin’s actions did for them.

I got to talk to Awah Tilong, the President of BSA, and a few of their members before the conversation to see what their goals were for this event. She said she wanted this to be a space for a productive conversation, for people to speak their truth, and be comfortable to disagree. Minds were not going to be changed in one conversation, maybe not ever, but this was a place to educate and increase apathy.

Once people had settled in, Damien Thompson, faculty advisor of BSA and professor here at Regis, set some ground rules for the night. This was a safe space, speak from the heart without judgement, listen from the heart with no need to agree, don’t rehearse your argument truly listen, be mindful of everyone and let all have a turn to speak.

This program was broken into 3 sections: “speed dating” (fast two person conversations), small group discussion, and a big group discussion. Talking one-on-one with people and asking how they felt about the Kaepernick situation was eye opening. One idea stuck with me and I have continued to ponder it: Did Kaepernick’s kneeling controversy end up distracting people from his initial purpose of raising awareness for police brutality against Black people? He may have had good intentions but his act of kneeling was twisted into a sign disrespect to America and its troops, his purpose was often lost in the media. He was able to disturb millions of Americans weekly Sunday rituals of watching Sunday football, he rocked that boat and started a conversation, just maybe not the one he was hoping for.

The conclusion of the night was that the criminalization of Black boys and men is a serious issue and Colin Kaepernick leveraged his social positioning to make a statement by kneeling during our national anthem. This situation was ostracized from being a peaceful protest for police brutality to disrespecting America and American troops. We are so patriotic that we disregard the racism right in front of us. Racism is rampant and blatantly so in the acts of brutality that affect African American men and boys as well as other men and boys of color. I do not wish to change anyone’s feelings about this situation, the goal of this conversation was not to prove a right or wrong but to get to the root issue: not every American is equal. The importance of what Kaepernick did and what this talk concluded with is that we need to address the attack on boys and men of color. They are being killed because of what they look like by people who should be protecting them. They are Americans and we need to live up to “liberty and justice for all”.

Advocacy Is For Everyone: Lessons from IFTJ

Regis IFTJ traveling team in Washington DC at the Jefferson Memorial. //Photo courtesy of Natalie Nielsen

By: Catie Cheshire, Co-Editor in Chief

As part of social justice week, students who attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ) in Washington D.C. November 3-5 shared reflections on their experience and plans for future action in an event called “IFTJ, Action, and Healing.” Not everyone who went on the trip participated in the event, but it began with those who did (Natalie Nielsen, Anahi Ramos, Ethan Strouse, Amelia Rouyer, and Kate Penick) sharing memorable moments are lessons learned.

The conference is two days of breakout speakers and advocacy training with a focus on the Jesuit values that can influence how we discuss policy with our elected representatives. The final day of the conference is devoted to meeting with policy aides on the hill and using the advocacy skills learned at the conference. The theme of this year’s conference was Discipleship at the Crossroads.

“The community of Jesuit schools was impressive to me,” Penick said. “The common background we all come from was special throughout the weekend.” Strouse seconded her thoughts with a comedic story about the “mass Mass” that took place Sunday evening on the second day of the conference. That many people from Jesuit educational backgrounds coming together is something unique about ITFJ that Regis students felt defined the conference.

Despite the fact that every breakout session or keynote relates social justice issues back to Jesuit values, Ramos stressed the variety of topics available for conference-goers to pick from. Ramos has gone to IFTJ twice now, and said that this time around she was able to learn about different subjects than she had before. She also stressed that advocacy isn’t nearly as intimidating as she thought.

“The nerves disappear once you’re in the conversation and can share your stories and views and be heard by people who have a say,” Ramos said. For Nielsen, who has attended IFTJ three times and was the student leader of the trip this year, her growth within advocacy from year one to year three of IFTJ has encouraged her to consider a career in politics after she graduates from Regis.

Nielsen used her third year as a chance to learn from others. She expressed that, for her, a lot of the experience was listening to what others are doing and trying to figure out how to bring that back to Regis.

For that reason, the second half of the event focused on actions. The participants shared DOs and DON’Ts for advocacy, and introduced a new event that will take place at Regis in the Spring: Advocacy Day. During Anti-Oppression Week one day will involved Regis students lobbying on Capitol Hill here in Denver.

The other action was participants at the even writing letters to Casa de Paz, an organization that provides support for people whose family members are detained or are coming out of detention centers. Casa de Paz is a local organization that has helped over 1,000 families and counting. The letters were written to express solidarity for people unjustly held in detention and will be delivered to families soon.

Activism for Introverts

Photo source: spiritedwellbeing.com

By: Allison Upchurch, Staff Reporter

This Monday, November 5, Regis’ annual Social Justice Week kicked off with the first event called “Activism for Introverts”. During this event, a group of Regis students came together to have an open conversation about how someone who identifies as an introvert can get involved in the demanding work of activism. The discussion was led by Regis student Isaiah Pramuk who based this event off a workshop of the same name at a conference he had previously attended.

To start off the discussion, the group focused on sharing life experiences and stories that all had the goal of unpacking what it means to be identified as an introvert. A general consensus* among the group was that those who identify as an introvert tend to step away after spending time in groups of people to recharge their energy levels and center themselves again. Another general consensus was that an introvert is observant and more likely to want to listen and process instead of facilitating a conversation.

“We often establish the bounds of introversion by looking at extroversion,” Pramuck shared with the group, commenting on how he had observed that most of the other people involved in activism work tended to be more outgoing and willing to engage in dialogue in a large group environment.

This led into the discussion of how these characteristics of an introvert can enhance the process of activism while balancing the need to manage emotional output and process the conversations of whatever issue is on the table. The group discussed how work in activism for introverts is geared towards the behind-the-scene work like doing data research that is just as fulfilling as standing up in front of a crowd with a megaphone.

“I make a newsletter,” one participant shared about her activism experience. “And I feel that is just as effective as going around and telling people stuff but it’s not as draining, and it still gets the message across.”

Work like this in activism tends to play to the strengths of an introvert, such as the ability to actively listening to others and understanding, assess a situation without being too rash, and address fundamental factors that may be overlooked in the big picture.

“Having the capability to recognize and have conversations about these things really allows us to stay not only in touch with ourselves but in touch with each other,” Pramuk offered. He continued, explaining introverts are able “to support each other because it is something that requires support and we are uniquely capable of supporting each other”

At the conclusion of the discussion, the group was offered generalized tips that can be employed by introverts in activism such as recognizing that no one is alone and that many people go through similar experiences of introversion. Another tip was to be mindful of the importance of self-care and the need for one to draw back every now and then to maintain a healthy emotional balance of work and personal time.

*Author’s Note – Everyone experiences introversion in a different way and should not feel limited to defining an introvert on these discussions and assumptions alone.