By Brianna Bohland
Students are forming a chapter of Amnesty International, a group advocating the protection of human rights, on campus.
The non-governmental agency seeks out instances in which human rights are violated and publishes information encouraging people to be active, said Alley Agee, religion junior.
“I think that I really just want to educate students about the opportunities to be active and know about issues,” she said. “I really want to promote this organization, because they do an awesome job.”
The local chapter would like to host one event this semester and register with Amnesty International USA to become an official chapter, which requires at least 15 members, Agee said. Once the group is registered, members will be required to meet specific goals and campaigns to remain active.
“We used to have a chapter here at OCU, but it kind of fell away because it was never registered,” she said.
The only other registered collegiate chapter of Amnesty International in Oklahoma is at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
The group is registered with OCU Involved and plans to host an upcoming movie night to raise awareness on campus, Agee said.
“I started the chapter at OCU because I have a passion for human rights, and it’s something that all people are called to do,” she said. “I think it’s important that people are treated fairly, justly and with dignity, and I know that OCU would have a lot of people with that same mindset.”
Trey Witzel, vice president of Amnesty International and religion/philosophy junior, said the group will be a good way to invest his passion for social justice.
“My goal for the semester is to find our areas of passion and to plot our path according to those areas,” he said.
