Students In Chains Make a Point

Last updated on: February 11, 2011 at 9:56 pm by Guest Contributor

Students In Chains Make a Point 2011-02-11T21:56:33-07:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Editor’s Note: As part of our current Patheos Book Club on Adam Taylor’s new book Mobilizing Hope: Faith-Inspired Activism for a Post-Civil Rights Generation*, we invited a handful of “modern mobilizers” to share their stories of how they are mobilizing hope in their communities. Here, another inspired story from Lauren Selbert, ACT:S Advocacy & Campaign Fellow.*

The chains ranged from fist-sized iron links to thumb-sized steel loops, but none of them were light. Heads bowed, students in black Human Wrong shirts stood for hours linked together in a row, weighed down by ropes of chains—a “human illustration” of modern-day slavery.

“I saw the chain and I wasn’t signed up to be part of it, but I decided to join, and I was up there for an hour,” said sophomore and InterVarsity member Viniceia Carter. “I think the chain is a really good visual to pull people in. It was amazing to see so many people so interested in an issue they had no idea about before.”

It was Wednesday, National Call-In Day for the Child Protection Compact Act (CPCA) and the third day of “Justice Week” at the University of Delaware. Students from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and World Vision ACT:S, partnering with several other campus groups, had organized a week-long Human Wrong creative activism campaign to educate students on human trafficking and inspire them to act.

“We did it to show people that Christians are about action, Christians are about justice, Christians are about love,” said Bryant Garcia, another member of InterVarsity. “These events we’ve had for Justice Week with InterVarsity have definitely helped change the view students have of Christians in general.”

As part of Justice Week, students wore their Human Wrong t-shirts every single day to raise awareness. They sold the shirts for $10 to support World Vision’s new anti-trafficking project in Bangladesh. Even by Wednesday, InterVarsity student leaders Molly Baker noted, people were asking about the shirts. “People are starting to say, ‘Hey, why are you wearing that shirt every day? What’s that about?” she said.

On Monday, InterVarsity hosted a screening of the film “At the End of Slavery,” which brought out around 200 people. “There were so many people, at the last minute we passed out buckets for donations and made $164!” said Annie Stuart, a junior and member of InterVarsity. On Tuesday, Francis Bok—an abolitionist and author who spent 10 years of his life as a slave in Sudan—came to speak, drawing an audience of 350 people. Wednesday was National Call-In Day, with stations set up around campus for students to call their Senators in support of the CPCA. Justice Week concluded with a “Break the Chains” event combining live music, dance, stories, and a “Fast for Freedom” on Thursday.

But even by Wednesday, the word was already spreading. A few approached the booths wearing their Human Wrong shirts, asking, “Is this where we make our phone calls?” Crowds of students flooding by on their way to class found their attention snagged by the strange sight of students in chains, frozen in a poignant picture of modern-day slavery. “Would you like to take two minutes to call your Senator to stop child slavery?” InterVarsity members called out.

@font-face { font-family: “Gill Sans MT”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }p { margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

And many did. Over 300 calls to Senators were made at University of Delaware on Wednesday—and that’s not including the hundreds of calls made around the U.S. and logged online. From 11:30am to 4pm, World Vision Policy Advisor Jesse Eaves and intern Samantha Bender ran a live webcast from the Delaware campus on LiveStream. Bender and Eaves answered questions, posted videos, interviewed students, and reported on the ever-climbing number of calls.

“This is like a whirlwind,” one InterVarsity student said to another, amazed by the number of students clustered around the table, calling Senators from their cell phones.

It was a long day for the students standing in chains and manning the advocacy booths, but UDel’s creativity worked wonders. Students stopped, looked, asked questions—and acted to stop child slavery. “It’s a really cool feeling,” said Carter, “because you are one person, but when you come together in a group you really make a difference.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 8, 2011

A Night of Beautiful Madness to End Malaria

Next Post

February 15, 2011 Unlocking the Secrets of the Eucharist

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Author Q&A Book Review Christian Living Church Leadership Stump a Scholar Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2022 March 2021 October 2020 August 2020 February 2019 November 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was Ezra's profession?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Farmer Scribe Soldier Priest