The Valpo Core

CORE Students! Join Amnesty International at our CORE approved information and discussion forum on child soldiers. As you learned from reading Ishmael Beah’s book, the situation of child soldiers continues in several countries around the world. After reading and discussing the book you may have had some unanswered questions, and after hearing Ishmael Beah speak, you may be wondering how you can help out. Come out to this event for information, discussion and ways to help prevent stories like Ishmael Beah’s from becoming realities for anyone else!

The event will be held from 7pm-8pm, Wednesday, April 1st, in the Alumni Room of the Harre Union.

Hope to see you there!

The Office of Residential Life will be sponsoring a discussion on modern gentrification, its use of the court powers (eminent domain), and whether or not the audience agrees with the argument presented.  The program will begin with a showing of the War on Peace, a documentary produced by Cris Thorne, which has won an Urban Visionary Award for Film and was inducted into the permanent collection at the National Museum of Television and Radio. The piece compares the black panther movement of the 1960s with the hip-hop of the modern era, examining the idea that both were invented by black culture as a positive influence, but were hi-jacked by people outside of that culture to serve an end. One interpretation that will be presented is that the FBI released propaganda on the black panthers, trying to convince white Americans that there should be no change in the status of the black race. There will be a discussion of whether or not attendees agree with this interpretation. Furthermore, the evolution of hip-hop will be examined, with the argument that it was once a positive music of thought and feeling but has morphed into gangsta rap after years of capitalist influence. A discussion will follow regarding whether or not students think this is a fair assessment. The discussion will also talk about what can be done in society to change this trend or to refute the conclusions that were drawn. For a more modern look at another way in which the black community is being exploited, a scene on gentrification from Boyz n the Hood will be shown. The event will begin at 8:00 pm on February 19th in room 112 of Kallay-Christopher Hall.

Join the Social Action Leadership Team (SALT) Monday night to learn more about what makes fair trade so fair!

On Monday, December 8th, 7:00 pm, in the Community Room of the CCLIR, SALT will have a speaker from a fair trade company called Ten Thousand Villages.  She will give a presentation and will display some of her goods.  She will speak for a while, then answer questions.  SALT is sponsoring the event as a kick off to their fair trade fair which will run Tuesday and Wednesday (9th-10th) in the Union from 11-5 pm.

Flyer: Fair Trade

Colombian human rights worker Abilio Peña will speak on campus Thursday, 11/20, at 4 pm in the Christopher Center Community Room.

Abilio Peña is an important human rights defender and leader of the ecumenical Comision Interreclesial de Justicia y Paz (Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission). The Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission works in the Chocó department of Colombia to denounce the illegal acquisition of traditionally collective Afro-Colombian land by paramilitary groups.  He has extensive knowledge of the situation in  Colombia, potential effects of the pending US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in his region, the increase in violence, and threats towards human rights workers and communities who speak out against impunity. Mr. Peña, a lay theologian, is a skilled public speaker who clearly and proficiently draws audiences into the reality of Colombia through his personal stories and experiences.  His visit is coming only months after he received death threats from the paramilitary group Aguilas Negras.

This event is cosponsored by SALT (Chapel of the Resurrection), the Spanish Department and Amnesty International.

These events are sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, as part of a campus mission week on racial reconciliation:

NOVEMBER 4TH (TUESDAY), NEILS 136, 7:00PM: Brother Warfield from Chicago will be speaking on God and racial wounds. He has a powerful testimony of how racial hurts can hinder someone from engaging with people from other ethnic backgrounds, and how essential it is for us to seek healing in these areas so that we may enjoy this gift of racial diversity in our world. Afterwards will be Q & A time for people to discuss what’s on their minds.

NOVEMBER 6TH (THURSDAY), BRANDT LOUNGE, 6:00PM: “Building Bridges: Dinner and Dialogue with International Students”: The purpose of this event is to invite International students & Non-International students to come together and have dinner and open the door for discussion of people’s cultures and upbringing. We hope people will find common ground and/or learn and appreciate those things that are different from them. There will be printed out questions given to small groups to help people engage in conversation.

NOVEMBER 7TH (FRIDAY) UNION SQUIRE ROOM, 7:00PM: This will be InterVarsity’s last event of the week on Racial Reconciliation. Reverend Gregory Jones will be speaking this evening relaying the importance of the week’s events, and connecting them all together. He will address questions such as: What is the Gospel? What does Racial Reconciliation have to do with the gospel? And what does it mean to follow Jesus? Afterwards there will be time for participants to talk with a member of the InterVarsity leadership team or the speaker about the event and any questions they may have.

VU’s Annual Peace & Social Justice Symposium:

Not Just Waiting On The World To Change

Saturday, November 1, 2008 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Check-in is in the Union Lobby.

This year’s keynote speaker is Adam Carter, a micro-philanthropist. Mr. Carter is a Fullbright scholar with degrees in cultural anthropology and international development. Adam works as a vendor at Wrigley Field half the year. The rest of the time he is an international micro-philanthropist striving to save forgotten, impoverished areas of the world one small donation at a time. He is the Associate Director of 100 Friends, a philanthropy travel organization.

See the links below for the program pamphlet of the symposium and a registration form. The program pamphlet includes the day’s program and information on workshops that are being offered. Registration is free.

Program pamphlet: Peace & Social Justice Symposium Pamphlet

Registration form: Peace & Social Justice Symposium Registration Form