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Every year the Center for Civic Engagement hosts an Advocacy Day that brings students, faculty, and community members together to explore social justice topics and learn important activist skills. This year we are celebrating our 4th Annual Advocacy Day, reimagined into an Advocacy Week. We are excited for the whole campus to be involved in a full week of advocacy education, exploration, and action.

Are you ready to be inspired and move from talking about problems to actually gaining the skills needed to take action? Join us as we explore social justice topics, their intersection with racial justice, and learn important activist skills.

View our full lineup of events below.

Please check back for frequent updates and further details.

Friday, March 26  |  2pm

Ask Your Elected Officials to Support Native American Causes

Hosted by SGA's Social Justice Committee

Join the social justice committee in sending letters to our local representatives to ask them to pass legislation that supports Native Americans

Monday, March 29  |  9-11 am

Mental Health Advocacy and the Power of Your Story

Learn how to advocate for your own mental health and mental health legislation!

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Massachusetts () will facilitate a session about mental health advocacy and how to tell your personal story to make change. We will provide details about the legislative process in Massachusetts as well as NAMI Mass' current public policy priorities. We will explore how individuals can get involved in legislative advocacy and provide recommendations and examples of how to tell your story and connect with legislators. Our presentation will be divided into two sections with ample time for questions in each area. We hope you can join us!

Presenters:

• Monica Luke, Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the NAMI Massachusetts Board of Directors
• Michelle A. Ward, Assistant Director of Community Education & Training at NAMI Massachusetts
• Takeya Faison, COMPASS Justice System & Diversion Navigator at NAMI Massachusetts

Monday, March 29  |  4pm

Mental Health Matters: Bringing Awareness and Ending the Stigma

Hosted by Psychology Club

This event will have three "parts" during one meeting on Zoom. During the entire event, students will be able to have a discussion about what it means to be an advocate for mental health awareness. As for the project aspect, all SSU students will have an opportunity to share anonymous backgrounds of how they have been managing their mental health or what they would like people to know about those with mental health issues. These statements will be made into digital graphics during the event and posted on the Psychology Club's social media (the anonymous survey would be posted in the class pages before the event). Finally, there will be a #StopTheSlang section where students attending the event will be able to collaborate and create a digital graphic describing common offensive terms regarding mental health and why it is offensive.

   Meeting ID: 971 2620 5563  |  Passcode: 377726

Can't attend, but want to contribute? -- Do you have a story to share about your mental health/illness experience? What do you want people to know about mental illness? to ANONYMOUSLY submit your story and we will make your story int a digital graphic to post on Psychology Club’s and .

Monday, March 29  |  7:30pm

Anxiety in a Changing World

Hosted by Theta Phi Alpha Sorority

This event will be about coping with anxiety through a fast changing world. The pandemic has put a strain on everyone and levels of anxiety have been higher than ever before. Come join the Sisters of Theta Phi Alpha to work through anxiety coping mechanisms and share personal experiences to recognize that no one is alone!

Tuesday, March 30  |  1:40-3 pm

Immigrant Rights

Learn how to advocate for immigrant rights!

Elsabel Rincon, the Founder of the , will be joining us to share her journey of becoming an organizer. She will explain some of the challenges that immigrants are facing in Salem as well as the policy and socio-cultural approaches to addressing these challenges. You will also learn about specific bills currently being discussed at the Massachusetts State House and how you can advocate for them. The event will close out with an Activist Tools for Change workshop to gain skills that will help you in your future advocacy initiatives.

Wednesday, March 31  |  1:40-3 pm

Winning a Green New Deal for Massachusetts

Learn how to advocate for climate justice!

Ella McDonald, a Climate Organizer with  and Communications Director with , will join us to share her journey of becoming an organizer while also being a college student. She will explain intersectional environmentalism and what it means to advocate for climate policy rooted in collective liberation. You will also learn about specific bills currently being discussed at the Massachusetts State House, and how is working to undo the systemic barriers that allowed Massachusetts to go 12 years without passing any comprehensive climate legislation. The event will close out with an Activist Tools for Change workshop to gain skills that will help you in your future advocacy initiatives. This event will be hosted in partnership with Prof. John Hayes of the Geography and Sustainability Department during his class GPH 115: Global Climate Change.

Thursday, April 1  |  10am

Combatting Campus Food Insecurity

Hosted by Student Life, the LEAD Office, & the SSU Civic Fellows 

Food insecurity is often an invisible problem on college campuses and many students have to make difficult financial decisions to pay for textbooks and school supplies or food and other basic needs. 37% of public university students in Massachusetts are food insecure and because of historic and contemporary divestment and discrimination, Black, Latinx and LGBTQ+ students disproportionately experience food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exasperated the existing hunger crisis on college campuses leading to an increased need and urgency to address the problem. In Massachusetts, the state legislature is considering a bill to end hunger on college campuses by creating the Massachusetts Hunger-Free Campus Initiative. Learn more about food insecurity on campus, the proposed legislation, and how to advocate in your local and state-wide communities. 

  Meeting ID: 914 3911 0608  |  Passcode: 691648

Thursday, April 1  |  11am-7pm

PAWS Act Support Drive 

Hosted by the SSU College Republicans

The College Republicans will be hosting an event for advocacy week! We will be tabling in Marsh dining, getting people to write letters to their representatives to support the PAWS ACT. The Puppies Assisting Wounded Service-members Act is a bipartisan bill, which will give veterans who are suffering from PTSD, greater access to obtaining a service dog! This bill has bipartisan support in the House, and we are hoping to get as many students to write letters to their representatives demanding that they support this bill! So if you want to help out veterans out, stop on by next week, writing the letter will only take a minute or two, and we’ll make sure it gets to your representatives! 

Participate by visiting Marsh Dining Hall between 11am-7pm.

Thursday, April 1  |  12:15pm - 1:30pm

Combatting Gender Discrimination and Sexual Violence in Higher Education

Kimberly Barboza (Salem State ’19), Elizabeth Kim (Stanford ’22), and Sarah Jurinsky (George Washington University ’19) will share their experiences as student organizers and young professionals working to advance civil rights for students facing gender discrimination and sexual violence on college campuses across the U.S. This event will include an overview of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, former Education Secretary Betsy Devos’ efforts to undermine students’ civil rights, and how current students can advocate for better Title IX protections at schools across Massachusetts and the country. The event will close out with an Activist Tools for Change workshop to gain skills that will help you in your future advocacy initiatives.

Monday, April 5  |  1:10pm - 2:25pm

Discovering Our Role in Social Change

"In our lives and as part of movements and organizations, many of us play different roles in pursuit of equity, shared liberation, inclusion, and justice. And yet, we often get lost and confused, or we are newcomers to ongoing social change efforts and don’t know where to start, or we are catalyzed into action in the midst of a crisis in our community." - Deepa Iyer

Deepa Iyer, the Director of Strategic Initiatives from , will be leading an interactive workshop to help you find your role in social change. Deepa Iyer is a nationally recognized racial justice advocate, lawyer, strategist and writer. Deepa will explain her Social Change Ecosystem framework that helps individuals, networks, and organizations align with their social change values, individual roles, and the broader ecosystem.

Monday, April 5  |  4:30 - 5:30pm

Mental Health in Schools

Hosted by Education Club (SEAM)

We will discuss mental health for students and teachers! During the pandemic, it is extra important to check our own mental health and check in on others.

  Meeting ID: 978 542 2854  |  Password: 2854

Beyond Advocacy Week...

Friday April 9  |  12 - 2 pm

Co-sponsored by Inclusive Excellence, School of Social Work, LGBTQ+ ERG, and Center for Civic Engagement

The Walk in My Shoes Experience addresses identity through the lens of race, culture, gender, sexuality, and income. An innovative virtual immersive experience that provides a space for deep conversation and reflection. Through stories and exposure to completely different perspectives, participants increase their ability to become advocates for - and speak a language of - diversity.

For more information or interest in participating, please e-mail: inclusiveexcellence@salemstate.edu

Salem State's Annual Earth Days

Salem State began celebrating Earth Days in 2000. The April event has grown to encompass a judged research poster competition, an art exhibition and competition, and a series of lectures, panels, films and activities. These events bring renowned researchers, activists and officials to campus to engage students, faculty, staff, alumni and the larger community. If you would like to support these activities, please visit our . The theme for Earth Days 2021 is “There Is No Planet B.”

Find a full list of events and how to participate here: www.salemstate.edu/earthday