Doyle decries Darfur
By:
Liz Navratil
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: News
"When you deal with governments like Iran [and China], history has shown us that these multiple kinds of requests, they're never successful," Doyle said.
Doyle said college students should support the cause by writing letters to their representatives and to the editors of mainstream newspapers.
He said few Americans could name the location of Darfur and that "a lot of Americans are walking around in La-La Land." This happens, he added, partially because the cause doesn't get enough media attention.
"Darfur has to be as common a story as Britney Spears," Doyle said. "When they start writing it that way, action will come."
Following Doyle's speech, those at the event paraded onto the Union lawn carrying green flags with phrases like "The UN should do more," "Never Again" and "I stand for peace."
One by one, people took a moment to either read a Darfuri citizen's story from a slip of paper or state why they chose to come to the event. They then placed their flags into the ground.
One woman cried as she read the story of someone who survived the genocide.
"I cannot forget the images I've seen," she read. "I cannot sleep with the thought that my family members did not get cremated according to tradition, that their souls are not at peace."
Duquesne freshman Matt Mierski read a Bible verse: "Truly I will say to you, as you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me."
"This is what I'm trying to do," he said afterward.
One Pitt doctoral student, Bagiyyah Conway, said she decided to come to the event because she saw several students outside of the Union yesterday advocating for the cause. "This is the first thing I've ever been involved with," she said.
One of the women she saw was probably Catherine Balsamo, a STAND member who painted herself green, the movement's official color, to show her support for the cause.
Balsamo said supporting STAND is a moral issue and that not acting out against the genocide would be hypocritical.
"One of the most villainized people, and rightly so, is Adolf Hitler, the perpetrator of a genocide," she said. "A genocide is occurring. Something needs to be done. It's strangely hypocritical how much inaction there is considering how much hatred there is for Adolf Hitler."
Doyle said college students should support the cause by writing letters to their representatives and to the editors of mainstream newspapers.
He said few Americans could name the location of Darfur and that "a lot of Americans are walking around in La-La Land." This happens, he added, partially because the cause doesn't get enough media attention.
"Darfur has to be as common a story as Britney Spears," Doyle said. "When they start writing it that way, action will come."
Following Doyle's speech, those at the event paraded onto the Union lawn carrying green flags with phrases like "The UN should do more," "Never Again" and "I stand for peace."
One by one, people took a moment to either read a Darfuri citizen's story from a slip of paper or state why they chose to come to the event. They then placed their flags into the ground.
One woman cried as she read the story of someone who survived the genocide.
"I cannot forget the images I've seen," she read. "I cannot sleep with the thought that my family members did not get cremated according to tradition, that their souls are not at peace."
Duquesne freshman Matt Mierski read a Bible verse: "Truly I will say to you, as you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me."
"This is what I'm trying to do," he said afterward.
One Pitt doctoral student, Bagiyyah Conway, said she decided to come to the event because she saw several students outside of the Union yesterday advocating for the cause. "This is the first thing I've ever been involved with," she said.
One of the women she saw was probably Catherine Balsamo, a STAND member who painted herself green, the movement's official color, to show her support for the cause.
Balsamo said supporting STAND is a moral issue and that not acting out against the genocide would be hypocritical.
"One of the most villainized people, and rightly so, is Adolf Hitler, the perpetrator of a genocide," she said. "A genocide is occurring. Something needs to be done. It's strangely hypocritical how much inaction there is considering how much hatred there is for Adolf Hitler."
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