News

MCHR OU Chapter is the first student chapter of its kind. Their mission is to promote awareness, commitment to, and advocacy for Human Rights through education, community organization and action. Their mission aligns with MCHR’s greatly.

This year, MCHR OU has demonstrated these principles and fostered collaboration with the larger Oakland University Community through its five major events:

1. Trans + Nonbinary Experiences with Healthcare: Panel Discussion

-Attendance: 25

-Cosponsors: Gender and Sexuality Center and Gender and Sexuality Alliance

2. Kingian Nonviolence Training

-Attendance: 34

-Cosponsors: OU’s Honors College, Center for Multicultural Initiatives, College for Democrats of OU, Young Democratic Socialists of OU, and Gender and Sexuality Alliance

3. John Lewis: Get in the Way Documentary

-Attendance: 22

4. Wrongful Convictions: Stories from Individuals Impacted by Injustice and the Heroes who Defend Them

-Attendance: 50

-Cosponsors: OU’s Honors College, Center for Multicultural Initiatives, Young Democratic Socialists of OU, College Democrats of OU, Grizzlies for Choice, Gender and Sexuality Alliance

-Panelists: Ms. Jay Love – Founder and President of the Justice for Gerald Movement; Mr. Larry Smith Jr. – Exoneree; Mr. Hugo Mack – Formerly wrongfully incarcerated and now an attorney HMack Law; Ms. Trische Duckworth – Founder of Survivor Speaks: a wrongful conviction support group and taskforce; and Paula Kensu – wife of Temujin Kensu

5. Foot-care Kits for the Unhoused/Homeless (raised over $420)

-Student volunteers: 10

-Cosponsor: Oakland University’s Honors College

The Trans + Nonbinary Experiences with Healthcare: Panel Discussion was put together to improve future medical professionals and the public’s understanding of the unique challenges Trans/Nonbinary people face in the medical environment. The inspiration for this event was two pre-med students describing Gender Dysphoria as a mental illness that should only be handled by therapists, not doctors. MCHR OU created this program to try to thoughtfully educate and discourage this kind of offensive rhetoric.

MCHR OU with the help of the Gender and Sexuality Center organized a panel of Trans/Nonbinary OU students, staff, and people from the Southeast Michigan community to talk about their personal experiences and struggles trying to receive medical care for transitioning, preventive care (relating to their biological gender), and the constant inconvenience relating to legal-name changes/gross misgenderings…even when they found a provider who wasn’t transphobic.

Student Quote: “I’ve had experiences with Transgender people before, but I never realized the daily struggles they have just to exist.” RP

Student Quote: “Personally, this panel really highlighted the struggle that LGBTQ+ community members face in our medical system due to the scarcity of clear educational resources and clinical research into different treatment options, as well as the negative healthcare outcomes resulting from the lack of representation of/advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community among medical professionals.” AS

During the interuniversity event, Kingian Nonviolence Training, MCHR OU with a trainer from Meta Peace team, an international organization that works against militarism around the world, equipped OU and Wayne State University students with the tools to achieve positive social change through nonviolent action and civil disobedience. The attendees were put through exercises in CLARA: Conflict Mediation Training, Meditative Centering for High Risk situations, and educated in Kingian Nonviolence. Each student was given an introduction to nonviolence resistance and the basic tools to become leaders of their own.

Student Quote: “I felt the event did a great job at actually equipping students with tools they can use both as advocates and within their day to day interactions.” KG

In March, OU hosted a showing of the John Lewis: Get in the Way Documentary to bring awareness to all the sacrifices Civil Rights Activists have made in the past to get us where we are today. From his beginnings as an activist/Freedom Rider, to his time as a Congressman, John Lewis gave his life to others, and was an excellent example to share with the greater campus community about the work and legacy of the Civil Rights Movement

Student Quote: “Learning about John Lewis helps me understand that sometimes we need to take risks and devote ourselves to causes that many people are afraid to be a part of. It is important for our voice to be heard and make a difference.” AC

Student Quote: “I’ve joined the millions of people who have recognized Lewis’ legacy and have felt empowered. What I admired was not only his ability to elicit an apology from a former white supremacist, but more so, his immediate forgiveness towards the person. He was truly a man with no fear nor resentment.” RP

In April, MCHR OU invited five panelists to discuss the causes, experiences, and impacts that wrongful convictions cause. It was exciting to bring attention to this issue because so many people are wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit, especially men of color. These convictions not only have huge impacts on the lives of these men from imprisonment, inability to vote, and job opportunities, but also on the communities they come from. Communities that already experience poverty are having their young men taken away, stripped of their privileges as citizens, and inhibited from bringing financial and physical support for their communities. The scariest thing of all is that 1/25 people who are executed in the US are proven later to be completely innocent. One out of 250,000 would be too many, but this is completely unacceptable.

Student Quote: “I think one of the things that stuck with me the most about the panel was how the attorney talked about how you should never forget someone’s humanity, I thought that he perfectly stated his belief and did so in an elegant way. I found this very significant and touching. I also enjoyed how they went into topics such as official immunity, accountability, prosecutorial injustice, and the statistics they gave. It was refreshing to hear them talk about their own personal experiences and the compassion they had for how wrongful incarcerations impact communities.” GN

Student Quote: “I was very moved by the speakers at the wrongfully incarcerated event. I learned most from a lawyer there who said the criminal justice system is about efficiency, not justice. He talked about how the system would collapse if it did what it said it was going to do and honor our right as Americans. Because it wasn’t built for that.” NM

Finally, MCHR OU fundraised over $420 to assemble 30 Foot-care kits for the Unhoused/Homeless to help mitigate health problems that the unhoused are particularly at risk for such as: trench foot, frostbite, ingrown toenails, blisters, and infections from skin breakdown. In addition, they created an info packet to help people identify and prevent these ailments with over-the-counter materials. On April 11, the kits were assembled on campus and brought to South Oakland Citizens for the Homeless to be distributed to their guests.

But that’s not all!

MCHR OU will be continuing their mission of promoting awareness and advocating for Human Rights this fall. Already they have speakers committed for talks in September, Human Rights History in the United Nations in October, and are working as you read this to consider the issues surrounding disability rights and find more educators/storytellers to bring attention to other Human Rights issues for Fall and Winter! We hope you join us!