Model UN

This past November, 12 students from Oakwood attended the prestigious Brown University Simulation of the United Nations in Providence, RI.  Oakwood represented Argentina and Colombia, with two students sitting on the Organization of Islamic States.  This year's conference saw over 600 students from all over the country - and even Israel and England - arrive to debate issues of current events.  Oakwood students debated AIDS policy, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, weapons in space, refugees, development, women's rights, discrimination against Muslims, terrorism, civil wars, the international drug trade and many, many other issues.  Despite the fact that Oakwood was among the smallest schools at the conference, we were able to become prominent delegates on even the biggest committees.  Greg Pitner '08, was even awarded a coveted "Distinguished Delegate Award."  The most exciting news of all, however, was the fact that the Oakwood delegates actively joined in successful efforts to draft legitimate solutions to some of the world most pressing and long-standing problems.  Upon arriving back, they immediately began plotting for the next conference.

No Sweat

No Sweat/ Peace Club is a student-run club devoted to social justice issues. Formerly two clubs with identical student representation, they have now merged. The primary issue worked on by this club is the problem of sweatshops and their relationship to Free Trade agreements. The students engage in educational workshops, meetings and for some of them, trips to the Maquiladora border region in Mexico. While in Mexico, they tour the periphery of sweatshops, tour the communities where the workers live, meet with organizers, workers and human rights lawyers. The No Sweat group has averaged donations of over $500 a year for 6 years running, sending the money to the rights organizations in Mexico such as the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras. The students also have participated in immigrants' rights marches, organized letter-writing campaigns to Congress and hosted information sessions for Oakwood students, parents and visitors.