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Sage Students Host Social Justice Festival
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Written by Brittany Stark
Russell Sage’s Management and Social Responsibility Class is hosting the 8th annual Social Justice Festival today, October 15th, at 7 pm in Bush Memorial. The festival’s proceeds will be donated to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York and is intended to give the students a chance to put the strategies taught in the classroom to real world use. “Students learn about management in a context of social and environmental issues as well as the intricacies involved in running a business,” explained Eileen Brownell, a professor who has been involved with the festival in the past.
Although the festival is only two hours long, it promises to be jammed packed with activities. There will be pumpkin painting and a raffle intended to benefit local charities. To enter the raffle, people are encouraged to bring either a clothing item or a nonperishable food item for donation, and money is also accepted. Prizes include gift baskets and calendars. There will also be a guest speaker from the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York and from the YWCA, the oldest and largest multicultural women’s organization. Primary posters for the festival said that there would be ice cream but due to weather and rules concerning Bush Memorial, cookies will be served instead.
The festival will have live acts including music provided by the Sagettes, Erin Menzer, Tony Polente, and Nick Borden and a skit by the Sage Club. Vendors include Runway 7 Eco-Fashions, African Reflection Foundation, the Body Shop, Troy Farmers Market, and more.
To prepare for the Festival, the Management and Social Responsibility class split into five groups. The Vendor Team, responsible for choosing the vendors and acts, and the Stage Management Team is responsible for the set up and making sure the performers are on time. The Marketing Team handles the promotion and the Theme Team does the decorations and chooses the activities. Finally, the Production Team handles the physical execution of events, such as handling the budget ($800), making the program to hand out, and assuring everything is set up. Each group has a team leader, responsible for making sure every member did their work and to handle inter-team decisions.
“The biggest challenge has been organizing an event with 20 some-odd people and communicating with each and every person,” said Veronica Nunes, team leader for the Marketing Team. Although the teams each handle their separate responsibilities they also have to work closely together. Teams met during class but a lot of the work was done via Moodle, with topics ranging from posters to a forum questioning if a wing-eating contest was an appropriate activity for the festival.
Novita Baldeo, leader of the Production Team admits that although the project has been a lot of work she is excited for the festival, explaining, “So much of our time is spent on our intrinsic motivations, this is an amazing opportunity to get outside of ourselves and spend tonight focusing on issues going on around us.”
(Correction: Originally the first quote was attributed to Bonnie Kerr. That was a mistake. My apologies- author)
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