Advocacy Week: Local Action, Global Engagement

The Wesleyan Refugee Project invites Wesleyan, Middletown, and the greater Connecticut community to join us for a series of panels, training, and film screenings on the immigration and refugee advocacy happening in our backyard. By showcasing diverse narratives and solutions, we hope to facilitate dialogue between and among all those interested in supporting immigration and refugee activism.

**There will be free dinner on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights of advocacy week!**

Advocacy Week is co-sponsored by the Wesleyan Resource Center, Middle Eastern Student Union, the Muslim Student Association, the Government Department, Climate Action Group, Jewett Center for Community Partnership, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, the Center for the Americas, and Star and Crescent Restaurant

Student Stories: Refugee Resettlement in America
Monday, March 5th, 6:30 pm, Usdan 110 (45 Wyllys Avenue)

Aiti Rai (Wesleyan ‘20) will speak about the Bhutanese refugee community in Hartford and challenges refugees face upon resettling in America.

An Ecosystem of Advocacy: Local Channels of Engagement with Immigration and Refugee Issues
Tuesday, March 6th, 7:00 pm, Daniel Family Commons (45 Wyllys Avenue)

How can our communities best organize and collaborate to support immigrants and refugees? On Tuesday night, come to the DFC for dinner and a moderated panel exploring how this question applies to Middletown, featuring Sandra Koeppel (of the Middlesex Immigrant Rights Alliance), Marie McKenna (of the Middletown Refugee Resettlement Coalition), and Meghann LaFountain (of LaFountain Immigration Law LLC).

Lobbying and Organizing Training
Wednesday, March 7th, Usdan 110 (45 Wyllys Avenue)

Join us for two back-to-back mini trainings, each of which will teach an essential tool to becoming a better advocate, whether for immigration and refugee issues or another cause you are passionate about.

7:00 PM: Power Mapping and Galvanizing Crowds, with Precious Price and Bobbye Knoll Peterson.

Precious is a long-time community organizer and activist in Connecticut politics. After completing a Masters in Social Work from the University of Connecticut, Precious went on to intern for Senator Chris Murphy in Washington D.C. She then pivoted towards more local work, directing the North End Action Team (NEAT) here in Middletown. Today, she is the current director of the Middletown Racial Justice Coalition.

Bobbye has spent nearly two decades working in various local Middletown organizations, from directing the children’s circus at Oddfellows Playhouse to directing the North End Action Team. She currently works at the Middlesex YMCA and is highly involved with the local school board committee.

8 PM: How to Lobby Effectively, with Kate Sundburg (‘20)

Kate is the Connecticut Advocacy Corp Organizer for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Thursday, March 8th, Noon:

Coffee and Chat
OCS Lounge (222 Church Street)

Learned something new during Advocacy Week? Have conflicting feelings about the events? Want to just decompress? The WRP board will be posted in the OCS lounge during lunch hour to chat, drink coffee, and begin turning the information and skills we all learned into new initiatives.