From meeting with state senators to writing petitions to hosting forums, the Creighton Center for Service and Social Justice’s Advocacy groups are hard at work on various issues both local and international.
Four advocacy priorities are currently on CCSJ’s agenda: education and economic justice; sustainability and ecology; refugees and migration; and peace and human rights. These are issues influenced by the Ignatian Advocacy Network, which came together in Madrid in 2008 and now influences the work of Jesuit schools and centers across the world.
“This way we know we are advocating for the same things all people connected to the Ignatian community are advocating for,” Arts & Sciences senior Miranda Hinnenkamp said. “Overall, this is a great strategy because millions of people are advocating for the same thing rather than working separately.”
Another student heavily involved with working on advocacy issues is Arts & Sciences senior Ryan Freeman, who is involved with the sustainability and ecology issues.
“My group is planning on promoting sustainable lifestyles on campus, collaborating with other sustainability groups on campus like the Green Jays and Climate Action Committee, as well as advocating on policy levels, when the time comes,” Freeman said, noting that Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is currently not in session.
Some past actions the advocacy groups have taken include
petitioning against the Keystone XL Pipeline and the passage of LB99, a Nebraska state senate bill that extended prenatal health care to low income women. These advocacy groups have brought in speakers, including state senators Burke Harr and Jeremy Nordquist, to learn about different issues facing the Omaha community. The advocacy groups also work with other organizations such as Nebraska Appleseed and Justice for our Neighbors.
These groups were started on Creighton’s campus only last year. The Ignatian Advocacy Team, which was started five years ago, thought that this would be an effective method of reaching out to the Creighton community to get involved in various advocacy issues.
“We wanted to give these students, along with any other interested students, the chance to use their service experience in a concrete way, to change the systems that make their service necessary,” Hinnenkamp said.
The CCSJ Advocacy Groups also work with other organizations such as Nebraska Appleseed and Justice for our Neighbors.
“We will be figuring out within our separate groups what we should be focusing on this semester but it has definitely been great to have various successes we can build on,” Hinnenkamp said.
Both Hinnenkamp and Freeman encourage students who are interested in these issues to get involved with the CCSJ and their advocacy groups.
“We are definitely always open to having new members join our Ignatian Advocacy Groups if they are interested in any of the various issues,” Hinnenkamp said. “Otherwise, we would love to also educate students on the advocacy process and on the priorities we focus on.”
According to Hinnenkamp, there will be many events scheduled throughout the semester and she encourages students to get involved in some of these events.
“I would say that if a student is passionate about migration, sustainability, economic justice, peace and nonviolence, or human rights, they should get involved and join an advocacy group,” said Freeman.
For those interested in getting involved with the CCSJ, Hinnenkamp encourages students to contact her or anyone else on the core team.