By ZACHARY OLSAVICKY
News Editor
Summer is a time of opportunity for many college students, whether working to help pay for tuition, traveling and exploring new parts of the world, or simply recuperating from a difficult year. Heading out of his junior year at Saint Rose, Jermaine Brookshire Jr. described himself at “the top of (his) game.” But a combination of personal mistakes and a faltering support system led to his living in a homeless shelter for a brief portion of the summer.
“A lot of things happened that I did not plan to happen,” said Brookshire.
It’s led to Brookshire hosting a homelessness dinner and conversation as part of the annual Social Justice and Heritage Week at The College of Saint Rose. Co-hosted by the Office of Spiritual Life and the Office of Community Service, the week of events seek to raise awareness surrounding challenging societal issues like homelessness, human trafficking, and environmental pollution.
The idea for a week of events arose out of a march to end child poverty that occurred some seven years ago. Students would return from outreach trips with an interest in taking action. After enough interest was gathered, the week of events branched out from service trips into its own organization. A number of events return from last year, like the Tunnel of Oppression and the Fill Their Bowls dinner, but new events include a program on children with incarcerated family members.
For Joan Horgan, director of the Campus Ministry and an organizer for the event, the biggest challenge for events this year was finding enough time to schedule a number of events.
“I wish I had four more evenings to fit different movies in and things that would have a better viewing time,” said Horgan. With St. Patrick’s Day and Advisement Day occurring in the same time frame, she found it more difficult to schedule events that students would be able to attend.
A number of the week’s events rely on support from outside the College. for the Fill Their Bowls Dinner, a local high school made 65 ceramic bowls to sell at the event and another community group also donated items to help raise funds. Screenings of two films, The Throwaways and Taking a Chance on God, will feature their respective directors in attendance. Horgan expressed concern that, if too few students attend events, the guests who come as part of an event may be upset.
“I don’t want them as our guest to ever feel like the campus isn’t concerned about” the issues, said Horgan. To get students involved, she visited classes to discuss the week’s events and encourage students to think about social injustice that they may feel strongly about. While she sees a strong reputation of volunteerism at the College, she finds it harder to encourage students to become involved with social justice because of how sensitive the issues can be.
When asked if students are aware enough of the challenges facing homeless people, Brookshire responded, “no, and I don’t think it’s any fault to us as students.” He said that, before entering the homeless shelter, he felt there weren’t any valuable individuals in the shelter. But after encountering individuals with a great deal of hope and a positive outlook on life, he felt “totally proud” to say he was wrong. He said that, between classes, extracurriculars, social life, and family, it can be hard for students to be “exposed” to issues of social justice.
“I think it’s something that would benefit the college campus if they were to get a sense of that, said Brookshire, “and that’s why I wanted to have this event.”
With events designed to raise awareness about social issues, it can be difficult for organizers to present some events. One film being screened, the natural gas srilling documentary Gasland, has drawn ire from some over a perceived bias. By presenting the film, Horgan hopes the event creates common ground through “room for conversation,” even if it may be a difficult conversation to have.
Environmentalism is one issue where Horgan sees “a lot of traction” on college campuses. She doesn’t look at college students as being apathetic, but thinks activism is more “scattered” than in years past. Comparing modern activism to the American Civil Rights movement, she pointed out that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a “galvanizing” figure in the movement, whose stature is unseen in a present individual.
When discussing King, she also pointed out that he was 24 years old when first becoming involved in the Civil Rights movement, and that movements like the Woolworth’s sit-in strike were run by college students. With the knowledge that college students can spearhead social change, Horgan feels events like Social Justice Week can lead to real change for difficult issues.
“I hope that it provides inspiration as much as it provides challenge.”
