By Madeleine Thompson

Kenyons fourth annual Social Justice Week, dedicated to raising awareness and activism in the College community, will bring a barrage of events on social justice culminating on March 30.

If it affects or includes one person on this campus, it affects the whole campus, Ellen Blanchard 12 said. She and Chris Philpot 12 organized this years events, which involve topics ranging from sexuality to religion.

Tuesday and Wednesday included events concerning coming out and a Pilgrimage of Trust. Today, from noon to 1:30 p.m., Visiting Instructor of History Maia Surdam will lead a class called Unpacking at Kenyon and Beyond on Peirce Patio, and Speak: Womens Voices from the Hill, a series of poems and essays written by Kenyon women, will go up in the Peirce Pub at 7:00 p.m. Organizers will collect a $2 donation at the door for New Directions, Knox Countys domestic abuse shelter. On Friday, Speak will have another performance at 7:00 p.m., followed by a performance by DLo, a Sri Lankan-American political theater artist, writer, director, comedian and music producer.

I cant say that I have my own definition of what social justice is, Philpot said. I feel like social justice needs to emerge organically from a situation, and it needs to recognize the diversity of the situation. Blanchard and Philpot try to cover issues that specifically affect Kenyon, but they also make a point of covering those that are applicable worldwide. [Kenyon students] create this illusion that we are in a bubble, Philpot said. But even if we are in a bubble, were in a bubble that operates within the real world.

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