FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2004

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE STUDENTS ORGANIZE SUDAN AWARENESS WEEK

Instead of writing term papers for a sociology class, Drake University students are organizing several special events from Monday, Nov. 29, through Thursday, Dec., 2 to raise awareness about the human rights crisis in Sudan, which the U.S. Senate has labeled "genocide."

In preparation for Sudan Awareness Week, students in Darcie Vandegrift's Development and Alternatives class have researched the situation and learned that a government-backed Arab militia known as Janjaweed has been engaging in campaigns to displace and wipe out communities of African tribal farmers. Villages have been razed, women and girls are systematically raped and branded, men and boys murdered, and food and water supplies targeted and destroyed. Government aerial bombardments support the Janjaweed by hurling explosives as well as barrels of nails, car chassis and old appliances from planes to crush people and property. Tens of thousands have died and well over a million people have been driven from their homes and humanitarian agencies have only limited access to the affected region.

Sudan Awareness Week will begin on Monday, Nov. 29, and Tuesday, Nov. 30, as students speak in various classes and distribute educational information during the lunch hour and evening in Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue. On Wednesday, Dec., 1, they will show the video "The Lost Boys of Sudan" at 7 p.m. in room 101 in Olin Hall, 27th Street and Forest Avenue. On Thursday, Dec. 2, a panel of faculty members and Sudanese refugees will discuss the crisis in Sudan at 7 p.m. in room 101 of Olin Hall. Those who attend events on Wednesday and Thursday will have the opportunity to write letters protesting genocide in Sudan and to donate to the Green Ribbon Campaign, which supports relief efforts for Sudanese refugees.

"We've planned a variety of events to help raise people's awareness in an effort to generate concern and help for the conflict in Sudan," said Heather Cole, a senior from Osceoloa, Iowa. "Most people do not know there is a conflict, or do not understand the dynamics of it. We want people to know that they can make a difference and getting educated is the first step."

For more information, contact Darcie Vandegrift, assistant professor of sociology, at 271-2840 or darcie.vandegrift@drake.edu.

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