Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organized and performed at
The University of Rhode Island’s Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), hosted their first open mic night on April 3 as a fundraiser for children’s education in Nepal. This was a free event open for donations and was held at the 193 Degrees Coffee house at the Memorial Union.
“We’ve been promoting this event like crazy,” Jocelyn Malave, the president of SNCC said. “Putting flyers everywhere, we posted it on the electronic boards, in all the dorms and in the union.”
Malave stated that taking up
“We figured more promotion and having an open mic for peace should be able to make people more aware of our club,” Malave said. “We’re also doing this to collect donation for Nepal students to go to school.”
Paul Bueno de Mesquita, director of the Center of Nonviolent and Peace Studies, opened a non violent and peace center in Nepal that is directly connected with the one at URI. He came up with this idea of collecting donations and fundraising to help the students there who were affected by the earthquake that caused mass destruction in Nepal, in 2015.
“Just $60 helps one student get an education,” Malave said. “So we’re trying to get as much as we can to help them all go to school. We have raised $44 so far with only Venmo and are still counting.”
So far, the SNCC has raised almost over $150 dollars. This money can send almost three children to school in Nepal.
This event hosted wide ranging performances such as playing guitars, singing, an interactive free style rapping session, Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) performances of eating pickles and stand up comedy.
“Primarily, this is all to benefit children in Nepal who might not have the same educational experiences or opportunities that we have,” Liv Hamill, a member of the SNCC said. “But this was also an opportunity for a lot of artists at URI and within the community, to showcase their talents.”
Similar donation and fundraising events have been hosted in the past by other SNCCs around the world.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee started last year to spread the message of incorporating nonviolent methods to address conflicts in life and practice mindfulness.The club was recognized by the student senate this semester. Since then, the club members have been looking for new ways to promote their activities on campus.
The SNCC is also planning to leave the donation open at all times. Anyone who wishes to donate can contact Jocelyn Malave at [email protected] or message @sncc_uri on Instagram. The club meets every Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. at the Harge forum in the Multicultural Center.