Weber State STAND Runs for the Congo

If you're looking for a way to get involved in the effort to help women in the Congo this summer, look no further. 

On Saturday, June 11th, Utah for Congo is holding their second annual 5K Run for the Congo at Wheeler farm in Murray, Utah.  So far, over 100 people have signed up to run in the event, which will donate 100% of proceeds to Women for Women International, an organization which runs a number of programs globally, including several for women affected by violence in the Congo.

I've gotten in touch with the organizers of the event, so Weber State STAND will be sponsoring the event and handing out materials for our petition.  If you'd like to sign up to run in the event and fundraise, sign up on this website.  Registration is free, and you will receive an e-mail with fundraising ideas shortly after you complete the form.

If anyone is looking to volunteer to help distribute information for STAND, please send me an e-mail at zstickney@live.com

Letter of Support: 2006 Graduate

NOTE: For personal privacy reasons, the name of this letter's author will only be provided to the Board of Directors of Weber State upon submission.  However, the text of the author's letter may be read in full below.

To Whom It May Concern:

As a proud Weber State Political Science and History Alum, I strongly encourage you to heed the petition circulating campus urging the Board to vote in favor of a resolution calling for increased transparency from Weber State University’s electronics suppliers. For I, too, am concerned about the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the unintended contributions electronics consumers may, unknowingly, make in full transparency's absence.   

As a concerned global citizen, I've learned that the key driver of the conflict in eastern Congo-the illicit trade in minerals that go into our electronics products, such as cell phones and digital cameras-is generating over $180 million in annual profits for the armed groups responsible for the continuing violence and atrocities. Nearly six million people have died as a result of the war, and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped in eastern Congo over the past decade. The armed groups that are perpetuating the violence finance themselves through the trade in four main minerals, tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold, all of which make our consumer electronics products function properly. 

This requested resolution is a valuable step toward symbolically neutralizing the conflict in eastern Congo and ensuring Weber State University's electronics purchases are not financing crimes against humanity. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

2006 Graduate

Letter of Support: Cameron Morgan, Alumni

Esteemed Board of Directors,

I am writing you today as a proud alumnus and supporter of Weber State University. Weber State helped prepare me for my professional career academically and ethically. My ethical foundation was primarily developed by my participation in human rights-supportive causes on campus. I was proud to found the Weber State chapter of STAND in early 2007. STAND’s events on campus helped generate awareness of atrocities in Africa and elsewhere, and it is in that spirit that I write you today.

Computers, cell-phones and I-pods are so ubiquitous on campus, that it would be easy to believe they were mandatory school supplies. These items contain traces of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. The problem is that some of those minerals have invariably originated in militia-controlled mines in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The aforementioned minerals are, to some extent, the fuel to the conflict that has led to tens of thousands of rapes and millions of deaths in that region.  Dozens of militias fight over the minerals-enslaving local Congolese and killing or raping anybody who stands in their way. The Congolese people benefit little from this trade, as most of the profit is funneled off to the militias and to multi-national corporations.  It is clear that American multi-national corporations, and institutions such as Weber State, who tend to be major buyers of products containing the aforementioned minerals, have a role to play in stopping this war.

How can you, a member of the Board of Directors, influence the horrific atrocities in the DRC? A vote for a conflict-free campus is a good start. WSU students, faculty and staff deserve to know that the materials they use at WSU are free from these illegitimately-obtained minerals. A vote for a conflict-free campus begins with increasing transparency in the process by which WSU purchases electronics, i.e. knowing where Weber State’s electronics suppliers get their base minerals. WSU can encourage its suppliers to source its minerals from legitimate mines that benefit the Congolese people. The Securities and Exchanges Commission helps to determine which mines fit this category.  Additionally, the Board of Directors can also pass a resolution condemning the violence in the DRC.

Taking steps to ameliorate the crises in the DRC would be commensurate with the high moral and academic character of Weber State. I hope the Board will take the steps necessary to ensure that WSU is part of the solution to a near intractable conflict.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. You can learn more about conflict minerals and the connected war in the DRC here: http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/

Best,

Richard Cameron Morgan

Psychology Major

Class of 2010

Conflict Minerals 101

So what exactly is the WSU Conflict-Free Initiative?  This 4-minute video, created by the Enough Project, explains the basics of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and how it relates to your cell phones, laptops, video game consoles, and other electronic devices.

We would like to help ensure that Weber State University’s electronics are received only from legitimate sources- not the violent militant groups perpetuating this conflict.  

Watch the video, and if you would like to learn more, please consult this resource list.  After you’ve done that, please consider reading and signing our online petition.

Letter of Support: Zachary Stickney, Student

To the Administrators and Board Members of Weber State University

My name is Zachary Stickney.  I am a senior political science major and presidential scholar at Weber State University and have long been an active and engaged member of the campus community.  I have served as President of Weber State STAND,   President and Student Area Coordinator of Utah for Amnesty International, and have been active in varying capacities in Weber State’s Young Democrats chapter, Pi Sigma Alpha, the Richard Richard’s institute for politics, decency, and ethical conduct, and have participated in Model United Nations of the Far West, an organization for which I am currently serving a one-year Board of Directors position.

As a student of international law and human rights activist, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing atrocities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  Worse still, I am troubled by the possibility that, as consumers of electronic devices, we may be inadvertently involved.   Weber State University and its supporters are not to blame for the crisis in the Congo.  However, I do believe that, as major consumers of electronic devices, we have a major opportunity and responsibility to use our leverage to help ensure our products are conflict free.  

As you may be aware, this conflict-free initiative has already had a number of successes nationwide.  Highly respected universities, including Stanford University and Cornell University, have already passed resolutions similar to the one we are proposing for Weber State University.  In addition, the Enough Project and other human rights organizations have proposed legislation in the United States congress calling for increased regulation and transparency in the trade of conflict minerals.  This is truly a nation-wide and historic movement.

Increased transparency in the trade of these minerals will not solve the many problems the DRC faces alone, but it will help ensure that the rebel groups facilitating the conflict will become increasingly financially isolated and unable to fund their activities.  It will also help relieve the burden of the international peacekeeping presence currently stationed in the DRC.  With our help, lives can be saved, violence can be prevented, and order and hope can begin to be restored to the hopeless.

I strongly encourage you to vote in favor of a resolution calling for increased transparency from Weber State University’s electronics suppliers.  In addition, I would like to request a symbolic resolution calling for solidarity with the people of the Congo and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Kind regards,

Zachary J. Stickney
Student
Weber State University

WSU Conflict Free Initiative Petition

To:  Administration and Board Members of Weber State University
 
We, the undersigned, representing students, alumni, and faculty of Weber State University, as well as concerned citizens of the Weber State community, would like to express our deep concern for the ongoing crisis in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC is home to one of the world's longest lasting and most deadly conflicts. Nearly 6 million people have been killed from the consequences of violence, making this conflict the deadliest since World War II.

Though this conflict may seem unrelated to the students, alumni, faculty, or community members of Weber State, in truth there is at least one deep and terrible connection. The DRC, particularly the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, is a major world supplier of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold. These minerals are extremely valuable and are used in the production of many electronic devices, including cell phones, computers, MP3 players, video game consoles, and so on.

Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the ongoing crisis in the DRC has been the takeover of Congolese mines by violent rebel groups. These groups capture these highly profitable mines, enslave the local population to excavate them, and use the money to further fund this vicious cycle. In addition to physical slavery in the mines, there have also been hundreds of thousands of cases of sexual slavery and rape throughout the region, leading human rights organizations such as the Enough Project and Human Rights Watch to label the DRC as the "worst place in the world to be a woman." These rebel groups use rape as a weapon of war to defeat their enemies by tearing at the social fabric of their communities.

Weber State University, its students, alumni, faculty, and members of the local community are not responsible for these atrocities. However, as major buyers of electronic equipment, we have considerable leverage to help end the crisis and ensure that our products are created from minerals gathered from legitimate sources. We, the undersigned, would specifically encourage Weber State University to:

• Use its leverage as a consumer of electronics equipment to pressure electronics companies into tracking their supplies and ensuring that the minerals used in their products are purchased from ethical sources;
• Pass a symbolic resolution in solidarity with the people of the Congo and encourage other universities or institutions of learning to do the same;
• Encourage students, alumni, faculty, and the greater Weber State community to learn more about the conflict in the DRC and be active in seeking a peaceful resolution.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Click Here to sign the petition online!