Nuha Alshabani

The University of Akron

Building Community Through Advocacy
 

The day began with smiling faces, warm greetings, and some much-needed coffee.  Swapping stories, updates, and excitement, SPSSI Council, committee members, interns, and graduate student members caught up with each other as if it were a family reunion. This energy continued into our 2019 Advocacy Day. As fun as it was, we did have work to do, and after a welcoming breakfast began working at 8:30 sharp. Policy Director Sarah Mancoll, our fearless leader for the day, briefed the advocates on the human rights violations of scholars and students.  Beginning with “why this issue” she outlined how higher education is the bedrock of free thinking; and when the space to think freely is undermined, everyone is affected.  We were provided with current research regarding violations against scholars. Including information from NYU’s Free to Think group, which published an article outlining crimes against scholars, why scholars may be attacked, and how to support scholars in need. Violations ranged from the disappearance, and likely murder, of some scholars to others losing their academic positions and funding. Some scholars, SPSSI members included, have been prosecuted for “treason” based on their beliefs and scientific work.

The stories were international, as well as close to home.  Not only are our colleagues, SPSSI members, students, and the communities we work with affected, this issue is close to SPSSI’s founding. As one of our establishment members, Kurt Lewin, himself was an academic refugee during the holocaust. Filled with information and ready to raise awareness, we then moved to the briefing training. This section of the training asked us to focus on two things: our message and our ask. We had a clear message: violating the human rights of scholars harms the individuals, the institutions, and everyone’s space to think freely. We had a simple ask: attend our briefing to learn more about this issue. Sounds easy enough, yet we were at capital hill and so a few more points needed to be addressed. The group discussed topics such as how to answer difficult questions, how to keep conversations short yet meaningful, how to build relationships with staffers and representatives, and how to address other issues of importance without detracting from the day’s mission. 

Now armed with knowledge and skill we had one last training. Soapbox consulting provided us with some insider tips for our meetings. Not only had the company booked all our meeting and printed our materials, they also provided on-site real-time support. Maybe even more importantly, at least in my opinion, they got us laughing with numerous puppy photos throughout their presentation. I found myself thinking at this point, “this is fun, exciting, and I’m no longer nervous.” And then we were off! The group shuttled over to capital hill in teams, meeting with representatives from their states. My team in particular had seven meetings. While we were really getting our steps in for the day, we also had great conversations. Everyone we met with was receptive to our message, open to further communication, and interested in relationship building with us and with SPSSI. In-between meetings, my team also had great conversations, and the day felt like both an advocacy day training and a mentoring session. As the day came to a close, and the third cup of coffee was had, I ran into other teams and other SPSSI members on the hill. Each time what continued to stand out to me was the energy, excitement, collaboration, commitment, and togetherness of our group. We raised a lot of awareness that day, and I left feeling energized for our future projects. 

back to menu