Following Veterans Day weekend, the Amnesty International Club hosted its first official meeting.

The student-led organization was founded by junior Gurnoor Gill, who hopes to attract open-minded students and help bring awareness to human rights problems.

“I remember first knowing about this club when Gurnoor posted a story [on Instagram] saying: ‘Should I make a human’s rights club?’” Secretary Rena Zewdie said. “When I saw that post, I immediately [messaged] her telling her to make it [and] don’t listen to what anybody else says. I wanted to [be a part] of this club because I want to give other students a place to voice their opinions on problems worldwide.”

The club is set to meet every second and fourth Wednesday of each month. 

“[To be a member], students will need to pay a $10 fee to cover the cost of snacks and materials,” Gill said. “We joined [Amnesty International] as a student-led club, so we would have to do things according to what they tell us. For each meeting, we will all come together to discuss different topics and find ways to bring awareness to it such as telling people at our school or even outside of school.”

For the first meeting, students got the chance to socialize and debate over a variety of topics. 

“I feel like this club is an amazing outlet for all the issues that we face in our normal life,” sophomore Faris Gibirila said. “[For example], today was our first meeting and we’re just discussing how the latest election has affected us students greatly. This club is very diverse in terms of opinions, so it allows us to view topics from different perspectives. It also helps us be more included in our community and learn about new things.”

Along with regular meetings, the board hopes to hold events outside of school later in the school year. 

“The main things we plan to do [in the future] are fundraisers and helping out the community in general,” Gill said. “[Currently], we’re thinking about doing some kind of fundraiser to help promote women’s rights. Another thing we could do is write letters to organizations to help promote these issues on a larger scale. There are also campaign rallies that we can possibly go to as a club, but that’s still not certain.”

Most of the attendees were enthusiastic about what the club had to offer and said that it lived up to their expectations. 

“I decided to join [this club] because its general ideas really align with what I believe,” freshman Teyobesta Teshome said. “I think it’s good for young people to come together to talk about issues going on in the world because most people don’t even know what’s happening around them. [Then], as they reach adulthood, they tend to get influenced by the wrong people and end up being separated from reality.”

As for club adviser Kristina Haley, she believes the club’s purpose would give young people a chance to get involved in the world.

“I definitely think more schools should have an Amnesty International Club,” Haley said. “Not only is the mission [for the club] critically important, I believe it’s so valuable for young people to be actively engaged in learning about and improving the world around them. [After all], this is the world they will inherit as they get older, so they should be empowered to help mold it into a place that is more humane for all of us and for future generations to come.”