George Garrison wants the Faculty Senate to let President George W. Bush know they, and all of Kent State, care about what is going on in Darfur, Sudan.

Darfur has been going through a conflict since 2003 when a rebel group attacked the capital. Since then, the Sudanese military has targeted civilians.

Garrison, professor of pan-African studies and member of Faculty Senate, said his resolution deals with two issues: to raise campus consciousness about the Darfur crisis and to make an appeal to President Bush.

“We live in the richest nation that has ever existed in this world. We have the resources to help them,” he said. “The president, through his power of the executive, has the power to intervene in a crisis like this.”

Part of Garrison’s resolution stated, “Whereas the war conditions in the region has resulted in the wide spread starvation, malnutrition and death of hundreds of thousands of victims who are helpless to protect themselves and vulnerable to the cruelties of others.”

“They can not defend themselves, by themselves,” he said. “They need the outside world to come to their aid.”

Garrison said he wants “the whole campus to come on board with this.” He said this includes President Lester Lefton, the deans and provosts, groups such as BUS and NAACP.

Garrison said if students wish to get involved, the first thing they should do is inform themselves about the issues in Darfur.

“I think people on campus should get involved because it is a great humanitarian issue,” he said. “You don’t want to be asleep at the wheel when something like this happens in the world.”

Garrison said that the resolution the Faculty Senate passed will be sent to Bush and the offices of the Ohio senators and representatives.

“The hope is that our senators and representatives will use their influence to involve the Congress (with the genocide in Darfur).”

Contact academic affairs reporter Heather Scarlett at [email protected].

CURRENT DARFUR STATISTICS • The death toll has reached 400,000 people since February 2003. • More than 500 people die daily. • More than 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes. • More than 200,000 have fled to refugee camps in neighboring Chad. • 80 percent of the children under 5 are suffering from severe malnutrition. • Humanitarian aid organizations have access to only 20 percent of those affected. Source: Stop Genocide Now’s Web site