Over this past weekend (March 21), I was able to attend the 2015 Empowerment Retreat was which held throughout the SMC on campus. Not only was I there representing the wonderful members of our chapter, but I was there (as I am every year) to represent myself as a young leader on campus.
The purpose of this event is to empower individuals by recreating roles of gender, sexuality, self-image and awareness. Through key-note speakers such as Sam Killerman (Social Justice Advocate) to workshops like “Love Your Selfie” and “Students Fight Back,” students who attended the retreat learned how to embrace their uniqueness while becoming knowledgeable of the things that affect our society today.
If you weren’t there to experience this event, here are some things that you missed.
Not In My Back Yard is a grassroots organization dedicated to ending human trafficking in our own back yards and beyond. NIMBY partners with law enforcement, legislators, and abolitionists to alleviate the suffering of those victimized by human trafficking. According to thecoveringhouse.org, approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States. The Department Of Justice identifies the top 20 human trafficking jurisdictions in the country as: Houston , El Paso , Los Angeles , Atlanta , Chicago , Charlotte , Miami , Las Vegas , New York , Long Island , New Orleans , Washington, D.C. , Philadelphia , Phoenix , Richmond , San Diego, San Francisco , St. Louis, Seattle and Tampa. Human trafficking is hitting very close to home.
Julie Mathers tried for years to battle her eating disorder before tackling her anorexia head-on last year. She has blogged about her journey and her approach was defined in part by her desire to be at home for her kids. She has organized “Love Your Selfie: No Edits” as a way to spread the word about goal-setting techniques and ways for participants to build new relationships with their bodies. Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses that impact millions of people every year in the United States, especially college stduents. Nearly 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder or an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) (Wade, Keski-Rahkonen, & Hudson, 2011).
Nick Miron, the racial and gender equality advocate for YWCA here in downtown Lancaster, has facilitated group discussions about race, gender and equality.
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