Sammie Hill is a sophomore journalism major who has been instrumental in getting Mizzou’s chapter of Amnesty International up and running this year. She was a Summer Welcome Leader in 2011, and she stays busy with her sorority and her participation in Language Partners. She is also a receptionist in the Office for Student Involvement at the Student Center. This summer she will study Arabic in Tunis, Tunisia, with the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Program.
Her Campus Mizzou: First off, what exactly is Amnesty International? What are some things the organization is involved in?
Sammie Hill: Amnesty International is the largest human rights organization in the world. Amnesty seeks to end violations of the International Declaration of Human Rights through peaceful intervention and education. At Mizzou, we’ve been actively engaging the campus with letter writing and petitioning. The issues we’ve worked with include the death penalty, women’s rights and prisoners of conscience. Before spring break, we held a panel about the death penalty, and we will be having a panel on worldwide LGBTQ rights in conjunction with the LGBTQ Resource Center’s Pride Month in April.
HCM: Why did you decide to start up this branch of Amnesty International?
SH: Two of my Summer Welcome co-workers, Jaime Henry-White and Trevor Peters, approached me at the beginning of the fall semester and asked if I would be interested in starting the organization with them. Getting on board was a no-brainer. What could I spend my time on that’s more important than human rights?
HCM: What did it take to set up an Amnesty International branch at MU?
SH: The process of founding an Amnesty chapter was remarkably simple. There was a chapter at MU a number of years ago, so the groundwork was already laid. Most of the initial work was planning how we would recruit new members and what we wanted to accomplish our first few semesters.
HCM: How can students get involved with the organization?
SH: Anyone can get involved! We meet 8 p.m. every Tuesday to plan upcoming events and would love to have some new input. If students can’t make the meetings, there are still many opportunities to work for human rights! We table every Tuesday in the Student Center with letters and petitions. Please come over and say hello or ask questions!
HCM: Do you plan to center your career around human rights?
SH: After school, I plan to do research or marketing for an international nonprofit. No matter what I do for a living, I hope to always be informed and working for human rights in some way.