Each year the Manhattanville Castle Scholar’s program plans and executes Human Rights Awareness Day. The day, usually held in the later half of the semester, is dedicated to raising awareness on campus to various Human Rights organizations and issues occurring today. Human Rights span from mental health rights, race and religion problems, and gender issues; and that’s only the very tip of a long list including poverty, water crisis, and food shortages.
Each year the planning committee finds and creates great reasons for students, faculty, and the surrounding community to come and spend the day learning about Human Rights. This year, HRAD will be on Wednesday, November 16th. Held in the Castle’s Ophir Room, HRAD starts at noon, will take a dinner “break” between 5 and 7:30. During this time, everyone is welcome to stick around and view someone of our own Manhattanville Student’s work and projects based around Human Rights. At 7:30, they’ll reconvene and finish off the day with the Berger Lecture.
Here are 16 reasons you should attend HRAD this year!
- Cynthia Smith The Berger Lecture speaker will speak at 7:30 in the West Room! Cynthia E. Smith was trained as an industrial designer, for over a decade she led multidisciplinary design and planning projects for cultural institutions. She joined Cooper Hewitt, where she integrates her work experience with her advocacy on human rights and social justice issues. She co-authored The Politics of Genocide: U.S. Rhetoric vs. Inaction in Darfur for the Kennedy School Review. By the People: Designing a Better America has taken her around the country researching the intersection of poverty, prosperity, innovation and design in America’s urban, rural and suburban communities
- Connie Hogarth Center will be there! Climate change, apartheid and gay rights are just a few of the causes for which Connie Hogarth fought before they went mainstream. The Connie Hogarth Center, located at Manhattanville College helps students get involved and become socially active. Make sure to stop by during the poster session from 12:00-12:30 in the Ophir Annex
- Esther Geizhals – A Holocaust Survivor
Speaking from 4:15-5:00 in the Ophir Room. Esther was just 10 her and her family were moved into the Lodz ghetto until 1944, when they were moved to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Six weeks after they moved in, she as moved to Bergen Belsen and again to the Rochiltze concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. In 1945, when the allies were advancing, they were made to walk for days and cut off from food, drink, and most of their sleep. During this death march, Mrs. Geizhals and four other escaped to the next village and were liberated by the Russian Army. When she returned to Lodz, she found her father, and she smuggled her way from Poland to the American zone in Germany, and came to the states in 1947.
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Snacks! During the poster and table session, from 12:00 to 12:30, will feature chips, dip, cheese, and fruit!
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Breaking the Silence Represent! Breaking the Silence, a Manhattanville College club dedicated educating the Manhattanville Community about sexual assault and sex violence on college campuses. Catch them during the Poster and Table session 12:00 to 12:30 in the Ophir Annex!
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Islamophobia Speaker – Iman Boukadoum Iman Boukadoumis the Director of Community Engagement at the Interfaith Center of NY. She is a social justice attorney and Algerian-American, Muslim woman. Her career began at the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Department of Homeland Security (DHSCRCL) in Washington D.C. At HRAD, Iman will be speaking about Islamophobia. Catch her 3:30-4:00 in the Ophir Room!
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No Letting Go Film Screening and Q&A No Letting Go is a film on mental health, inspired by true events. Randi Silverman, the producer of the film, was determined to create a feature film that would honestly share the stories of families who struggle with mental illness. She used her real life experiences while co-writing the screenplay for No Letting Go. A mother of a child with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder, she experienced firsthand what it is like to raise a child with a mental health disorder. No Letting Go won an award for Best Screenplay at the Southampton International Film Festival. Come see a screening of the film 1:20 to 3:20 in the West Room!
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Gabriel Ramirez – Slam Poet and Spoken Word Artist Gabriel Ramirez is a writer, poet, playwright, educator, and activist. He is the 2012 Knicks Poetry Slam Champion and a member of the 2012 Urban Word NYC slam team. He has performed on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre, United Nations, New York Live Arts, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theatre and other venues & universities around the nation. He has also been featured in the Huffington Post, Vibe Magazine, Blavity, Upworthy and at a TEDxYouth Conference. Gabriel ranked 2nd in New York City in Youth Slam and won the 2013 National Poetry Youth Slam Championship in Boston and has gone on to represent New York City at the National Poetry Slam festival on teams ranking top 10 in 2014 and 2015. Come check him out 12:40 to 1:10 in the Ophir Room!
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PRIDE Club Represent PRIDE is a club at Manhattanville College looking to bring the community together in an all inclusive, safe environment. Check them out during our poster and table session, 12:00-12:30 in the Ophir Annex!
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Counts as a Castle Scholars Event Attention all Castle Scholars! HRAD counts as one of the mandatory two events you have to attend each semester!
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The Loft will be there! Non-profit organization. The LOFT is a meet-up location for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied communities. With more than30 regular groups and numerous special events throughout the year, the center provide and safe and affirming environment to be yourself and meet new people or reconnect with old friends. The LOFT is a non-profit community organization based in Westchester County and serving the lower Hudson Valley LGBT community for more than 30 years and counting! Check them out in the Ophir Annex during our poster and table session from 12:00-12:30.
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Manhattanville’s Active Minds Chapter Active Minds is the nation’s only nonprofit organization dedicated to utilizing the student voice to raise mental health awareness among college students. Join Manhattanville’s active Minds Chapter at the poster session from 12:00-12:30 in the Ophir Annex!
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My Sister’s Place will be there! Since 1976, My Sisters’ Place (MSP) has worked to end violence in intimate relationships and combat the effects of domestic violence and human trafficking on women, men, and children throughout Westchester County. Check them out in the poster and table session from 12:00-12:30 in the Ophir Annex.
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Holocaust Education Center The Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center is a not-for-profit organization, serving Westchester, Fairfield and Putnam counties. Our Mission is to enhance the teaching and learning of the lessons of the Holocaust and the right of all people to be treated with dignity and respect. We encourage students to speak up and act against all forms of bigotry and prejudice. Check them out during the Poster and Table Session from 12:00 to 12:30 in the Ophir Annex.
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See other students work! From 5:00 to 7:30 in the Ophir room you can catch your own Manhattanville students giving presentations about projects they’ve done on different human rights topics! They will also be giving out CUPCAKES during this time so make sure to stop by!
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Buy Cool Merch The HRAD committee will be selling T-shirts and mugs! All proceeds from these sales go toward helping non profits in the area carry their message! They will also be raffling off some of their merchandise, so make sure to bring some cash!
If you have any questions about HRAD feel free to reach out to the planning committee at mvillehrad@gmail.com!