Students today made 240 sandwiches and delivered them to the Easthampton Community Center to help alleviate food insecurity. It was a tangible way to make a dent in a problem that affects 37.2 million Americans, 6 million of them children. The sandwich activity kicked off Social Justice Week, organized by students with help from Erin Davey, director of inclusion and community life, and Kate Garrity, assistant dean of students and advisor to the Community Service club.
Senior Bailey Schiff was one of the student organizers of the sandwich making, which is folded into a larger, two-week food- and toiletry-drive for local people experiencing economic hardship. “We encourage all students and faculty to take advantage of this opportunity to consider how this problem may affect different communities,” she said, “and start important conversations we may not otherwise have.”
To encourage participation, donations are tallied by class and the class with the most items wins a dress-down day. Totals from today’s sandwich making will count toward the totals. Sophomores lead the pack at the moment, with 114, followed by the middle school at 42, juniors with 38, seniors with 30, and first years with 16.
As Social Justice Week continues, here’s a day-by-day guide to goings on:
- A voter drive on Tuesday, with three clubs (Do Something, Political Awareness, and Young Democrats) registering voters on campus.
- Wednesday, the topic is gender equity, with the Girls Support Girls and Boys to Men clubs educating the community about the Violence Against Women Act.
- Racial equity discussions are underway on Thursday, with the Multicultural Student Union, Black Student Union, and Latinx Club screening 13th, the Ava DuVernay documentary on the U.S. prison system and how it disproportionately effects Black and brown people.
- Friday, the Sustainability Club will show Racing Extinction, a film about the dismantling of the Endangered Species Act.
- A Pride Prom will round out the activities on Saturday, with the Gender and Sexuality Alliance organizing a dance, DJed by former Williston athletic trainer and current full-time competitive strength athlete Rob Kearney.