Social justice organizations across campus are partnering together in creating the seventh annual week-long event, Justice Week, which will take place April 1-6.
International Justice Mission, Wishing Well, Red Thread Movement, Locavores and the Students’ Association have pooled their resources to bring in prominent speakers and host events they hope will inspire students to take a stand against injustice.
Bob Goff, author of Love Does and founder of the non-profit Restore International, will be speaking at a Chapel forum Monday night and in Chapel on Tuesday. Founder and CEO of Wishing Well, Ryan Groves, and Sally Fallon, president of Weston A. Price Foundation, will also be speaking throughout the week.
Carlee Finklestein, junior marketing major from Plano, met Goff in Uganda during a spring break trip.
“I really like how Bob has a ‘why not’ attitude and he doesn’t let anything hold him back from doing God’s work,” Finklestein said.
Leaders of each organization have been meeting since last fall to prepare for the week. This is the first year Justice Week’s leadership team has selected a specific theme for the week, which will be “Love and Justice.”
“We talked about what it takes to get people to be involved and passionate towards different causes and part of that is learning to really love the organization and what that organization does,” said Sarah Ratliff, senior marketing major from Lake Kiowa and Justice Week head chair.
“Our goal with our speakers and with our events is to pump people up and to share our love and in turn students will fall in love with the causes and different fields of work,” she said.
Each organization will host a variety of Chapel forums and events throughout the week. Red Thread will start the week off Monday night at First United Methodist Church with a game of Tug-o-War, giving teams the opportunity to raise money to fight sex trafficking. Red Thread will also finish off the week on Saturday with the In The Red Fashion Show at the Windsor Hotel.
Locavores will host a farmer’s market, a fundraiser dinner and a Chapel forum. They hope to raise awareness about ethical farming and injustices that occur within the American agriculture system.
Ryan Groves, CEO and co-founder of Wishing Well International, will be speaking in Moody Coliseum on April 2 at 8:30 p.m. There will also be a slam poetry concert in the Beauchamp Amphitheatre on April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Brandy Rains, Justice Week co-chair and Wishing Well director, said she hopes students don’t just come for the Chapel credits.
“This week invites many students to not just learn about, but to get involved in organizations on campus,” said Rains, junior art education major from Fort Worth.
For more information visit www.acujusticeweek.com.
Katie Greene and Madeline Orr contributed to this report.