Spring Break
Hopkins Student Activists
Issue date: 11/15/07
- Page 1 of 1
- Shane Woolwine-
Year: Senior
Position: President, Engineers Without Borders
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter (NL): What does your organization do, both nationally and on campus? Are there any on-campus projects that your group does to help raise awareness for your cause?
Shane Woolwine (SW): Engineers Without Borders partners with communities in developing nations to improve their quality of life through the implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing internationally responsible engineering students. EWB-JHU starts by developing student awareness of the struggles of the developing world and training students to address these struggles.
NL: What do you think a student activist does? How do you fit into this mold? Is there anything unique to being a student activist?
SW: A student activist should be more than just a member in a crowd, or a voice. A student activist needs to not only inspire action but be the action itself. Engineers without Borders is unique because it follows a voice with real action. Real projects with real people and real results in the developing world.
NL: How does your group raise awareness for your cause? Is there more that you wish you could do to inspire Hopkins students to action?
SW: Engineers without Borders is unique in that it allows students to see communities and their struggles first hand. Anyone who watches television can see the struggles of the developing world. Many students already have a passion to not accept what they see in the news, but to change it. EWB allows students to get involved in this struggle. Over the past three to four years, students' lives have changed by their work. As people see this and see what we are doing, awareness is raised.
NL: How did you become involved in your cause?
SW: I was tired of the mentality that college students are ill-equipped and ill-trained to make any real change in the world. The world views college students as a voice, a member in a crowd. They see us in riots after losing or winning football games. They see us stumbling after parties. They see us as young and immature. It was this passion to see a different kind of college student changing the world that caused me to join EWB. A student equipped to change not only lives, but the view of college students everywhere.
NL: Who has inspired you to become an active member of the Hopkins population?
SW: The student body. Someone told me that they hated Hopkins because the student body was too apathetic. I wanted to prove them wrong.
NL: What will your group strive to accomplish in the future?
SW: Our group strives to continue to impact the students around us while benefiting impoverished communities around the world.
- Aaron Martel-
Year:
Senior
Position: Director,
JHU Sudan
Divestment Campaign
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter (NL): What does your organization do, both nationally and on campus? Are there any on-campus projects that your group does to help raise awareness for your cause?
Aaron Martel (AM): STAND is a student anti-genocide coalition with over 1,500 chapters worldwide. Our main focus is on ending the ongoing genocide in Darfur, but we also monitor other areas of conflict, such as the DRC and Burma. Our Baltimore-area projects include the Genocide Education in Baltimore Schools Program and the JHU Sudan Divestment Campaign. We're also hosting the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Regional STAND Conference in February, which will bring in over 300 students from nearby universities.
NL: What do you think a student activist does? How do you fit into this mold? Is there anything unique to being a student activist?
AM: JHU is politically and culturally diverse - my role as a student activist is not to push an ideology or political agenda, but to build a consensus and sense of self-efficacy across campus groups. No one disputes that genocide is horrific, but the challenge is to convince students and administrators that their actions have an impact on the violence in Darfur.
NL: How does your group raise awareness for your cause? Is there more that you wish you could do to inspire Hopkins students to action?
AM: When we tell students that Hopkins's investments may be linked to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, they are usually hearing it for the first time - Sudan divestment hasn't yet entered into public discussion on campus. STAND uses speakers, panel discussions, film screenings, cultural events, media connections, original research and direct marketing to raise funds and educate students about genocide.
NL: What could the Hopkins population do to become involved in making a difference? Not only in your organization, but overall?
AM: Hopkins students are active stakeholders in JHU, not merely consumers of education. Students should pursue a greater level of exchange with university administrators about JHU's social and environmental impact. Campus activism does not have to be adversarial to be effective.
NL: What will your group strive to accomplish in the future?
AM: Our goal for the next year is to mobilize enough student support to persuade JHU to adopt a "targeted divestment" policy in response to the genocide in Darfur. We want to demonstrate to the Board of Trustees and the president's office that Hopkins students take genocide seriously and are unifying behind our proposal. In the long run, we hope to contribute to genocide prevention through our education initiatives in the Baltimore schools.
Year: Senior
Position: President, Engineers Without Borders
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter (NL): What does your organization do, both nationally and on campus? Are there any on-campus projects that your group does to help raise awareness for your cause?
Shane Woolwine (SW): Engineers Without Borders partners with communities in developing nations to improve their quality of life through the implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing internationally responsible engineering students. EWB-JHU starts by developing student awareness of the struggles of the developing world and training students to address these struggles.
NL: What do you think a student activist does? How do you fit into this mold? Is there anything unique to being a student activist?
SW: A student activist should be more than just a member in a crowd, or a voice. A student activist needs to not only inspire action but be the action itself. Engineers without Borders is unique because it follows a voice with real action. Real projects with real people and real results in the developing world.
NL: How does your group raise awareness for your cause? Is there more that you wish you could do to inspire Hopkins students to action?
SW: Engineers without Borders is unique in that it allows students to see communities and their struggles first hand. Anyone who watches television can see the struggles of the developing world. Many students already have a passion to not accept what they see in the news, but to change it. EWB allows students to get involved in this struggle. Over the past three to four years, students' lives have changed by their work. As people see this and see what we are doing, awareness is raised.
NL: How did you become involved in your cause?
SW: I was tired of the mentality that college students are ill-equipped and ill-trained to make any real change in the world. The world views college students as a voice, a member in a crowd. They see us in riots after losing or winning football games. They see us stumbling after parties. They see us as young and immature. It was this passion to see a different kind of college student changing the world that caused me to join EWB. A student equipped to change not only lives, but the view of college students everywhere.
NL: Who has inspired you to become an active member of the Hopkins population?
SW: The student body. Someone told me that they hated Hopkins because the student body was too apathetic. I wanted to prove them wrong.
NL: What will your group strive to accomplish in the future?
SW: Our group strives to continue to impact the students around us while benefiting impoverished communities around the world.
- Aaron Martel-
Year:
Senior
Position: Director,
JHU Sudan
Divestment Campaign
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter (NL): What does your organization do, both nationally and on campus? Are there any on-campus projects that your group does to help raise awareness for your cause?
Aaron Martel (AM): STAND is a student anti-genocide coalition with over 1,500 chapters worldwide. Our main focus is on ending the ongoing genocide in Darfur, but we also monitor other areas of conflict, such as the DRC and Burma. Our Baltimore-area projects include the Genocide Education in Baltimore Schools Program and the JHU Sudan Divestment Campaign. We're also hosting the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Regional STAND Conference in February, which will bring in over 300 students from nearby universities.
NL: What do you think a student activist does? How do you fit into this mold? Is there anything unique to being a student activist?
AM: JHU is politically and culturally diverse - my role as a student activist is not to push an ideology or political agenda, but to build a consensus and sense of self-efficacy across campus groups. No one disputes that genocide is horrific, but the challenge is to convince students and administrators that their actions have an impact on the violence in Darfur.
NL: How does your group raise awareness for your cause? Is there more that you wish you could do to inspire Hopkins students to action?
AM: When we tell students that Hopkins's investments may be linked to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, they are usually hearing it for the first time - Sudan divestment hasn't yet entered into public discussion on campus. STAND uses speakers, panel discussions, film screenings, cultural events, media connections, original research and direct marketing to raise funds and educate students about genocide.
NL: What could the Hopkins population do to become involved in making a difference? Not only in your organization, but overall?
AM: Hopkins students are active stakeholders in JHU, not merely consumers of education. Students should pursue a greater level of exchange with university administrators about JHU's social and environmental impact. Campus activism does not have to be adversarial to be effective.
NL: What will your group strive to accomplish in the future?
AM: Our goal for the next year is to mobilize enough student support to persuade JHU to adopt a "targeted divestment" policy in response to the genocide in Darfur. We want to demonstrate to the Board of Trustees and the president's office that Hopkins students take genocide seriously and are unifying behind our proposal. In the long run, we hope to contribute to genocide prevention through our education initiatives in the Baltimore schools.
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