Members of Keene State College’s Comparative Genocide course gathered at a table in the L.P. Young Student Center on Monday, April 21, and Tuesday, April 22, to raise awareness on the KSC campus about current issues in the Central African Republic. 

KSC senior Katie Conlon said she and other members of her comparitive genocide course want other students to become more aware of the problems in the Central African Republic in order to create a climate of change across campus. “We want students to become aware of what is happening in the world, specifically the crisis that is unfolding in the Central African Republic. It’s turning into a genocide,” Conlon said.  She continued, “We’re just trying to teach students that we’re all part of a global community and we’re all citizens of this community.” This group of students formed together for a project in their course. They stated their goal is to help victims of this crisis and spread awareness to others as well.

Tracy Mallozzi, sophomore, said they all felt something needed to be done.

“When our teacher assigned the project, we all got together and realized that the Central African genocide is such a crisis right now and that we need to do something to get this moving,” Mallozzi said. “We started this awareness because awareness is the basis of everything. Before students know what should be done, they should be aware of what is actually happening,” Mallozzi continued. The group handed out ribbons and allowed others to ask questions and recognize the level of the crisis. “All of us are culturally responsible for our global awareness on what’s going on in the world and we all need to know that we actually have the power to help. Once we know that we have this power and that we can really make a difference, we can help,” Mallozzi said.

Stephanie McCann can be contacted at smccann@keene-equinox.com