Among the many events Princeton Advocates for Justice — and the Princeton Clay Project — host to bring awareness to activist and other progressive causes was the table in Frist Campus Center on Apr. 6 in an effort to harness student sentiment welcoming refugees.
This Thursday PAJ and PCP co-hosted a table in Frist Campus Center with the goal of bringing awareness to the ongoing refugee crisis by creating a welcome quilt.
Students signed a square of white cloth and wrote warm messages to current refugees. Other such pieces of cloth are in the process of being signed at other universities and will eventually be sewn together into a quilt to be displayed at airports to welcome refugees, according to event coordinators at the table.
Mariachiara Ficarelli ’19, a coordinator for the event and co-leader of the Princeton Clay Project, noted afterward that nearly forty people had signed the quilt. Ficarelli added that the project has been working to promote interest among students in working toward solutions to the issues that have led to the current refugee crisis. To this end, Ficarelli noted that she would wish to see the University resettle a refugee family on campus.
In addition to this, the table was also intended to promote a concert that took place on Apr. 7, “A Night of Music From Aleppo,” hosted by the Princeton Refugee Project and the Princeton Clay Project. The performance took place at 7:00 p.m. at Nassau Presbyterian Church. According to the website for this event, all proceeds will go directly to providing college to refugee students through the Amal Foundation.
The Princeton Advocates for Justice is a coalition of student advice groups on campus which, according to the statement on its website, is intended to stand in “opposition to national and local campaigns infringing upon basic human rights and dignity.” PAJ co-hosted the Immigration Day of Action on Feb. 17, an all-day activism event of teach-ins, panels, and talks, with Princeton Citizen Scientists. The Immigration Day of Action brought in over 1,500 participants.
The Princeton Clay Project aims to bring awareness to the ongoing refugee crisis and to bring aid to refugee students through fundraising from campus events.
