York College students hope to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, by participating in the Students Together for Action Now (STAND): Dafur Fast on April 7. This nationwide event culminates a campus-wide mobilizing effort by several student organizations and a history professor to raise awareness and promote action against the genocide in Africa.

On April 7, students at York College and across the nation plan to reflect on the moral tragedy in Darfur by giving up something important to them or fasting. In addition, York College students will raise donations for Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides emergency aid to victims of natural and man-made disasters, by providing green "Not on my Watch" Stop the Darfur Genocide bracelets for a $3 donation and T-shirts, sponsored by York College's Student Senate and Hamme's Custom Design, for a $10 donation.

At 12 p.m. in Buechel Lounge, Sudanese refugee Emmanuel Yezinai will speak about his firsthand experience of the crisis, as well as his work with Doctors Without Borders while he was in a displaced persons camp. Yezinai has been in the United States for five months and is currently employed by Chartwells, the food services provider at York College. As a show of their support for Yezinai and to draw attention to the crisis, Chartwells plans to remove the ice cream station in the dining hall that day.

Dr. Kay McAdams, assistant professor of history, has helped to coordinate the events and also organized a letter writing campaign on March 14-17 to encourage our nation's leaders to act against the genocide. In addition, York College's Student Solidarity organization sponsored York College's participation in a global minute of recognition and silence, and gathering to help raise awareness on March 17.

For more information, contact Dr. Kay McAdams at (717) 815-1917.