African Priorities & African Solutions

Undergrad conference takes action

When people arrived at “African Priorities and African Solutions for the New Millennium,” they received juice, some tasty refreshments, and a program; when they left everyone had pooled together enough money to purchase 40 chickens and two goats for an African community in need through Heifer International.
Almost 80 students, faculty, and community members participated in the department’s undergraduate research conference held on March 14, 2006, at Embarcadero Hall.
Six panels covered topics such as “The Effects of AIDS and Policy on African Women and Children,” “Natural and Economic Resource Management,” “Reconciling Human Rights,” “Agricultural and Environmental Issues,” and “Understanding Health and Education Issues in Africa through Case Studies.” Student leaders passed a can, collecting spare change from the audience, hoping to gather $20 to purchase 20 chickens through Heifer International; the impromptu collection amounted to roughly ten times that. To learn more about Heifer International see their web site.
Students in Professor Lacy’s Africa-US Policy course organized the conference. Event sponsors included the Department of Black Studies, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Black Student Union, African Awareness Student Organization, Anthropology Student Union, CLAS Services, and Embarcadero Hall.