It takes a certain kind of person to dedicate their time to creating positive changes in their school, city, and international communities. VIU’s Student Organization for Social Change (SOSC) is doing just that.
SOSC started in September 2015 and focuses on raising awareness of a broad variety of issues, with an emphasis on social justice, and plans many different events dedicated to them.
“In the summer I was approached by a friend who wanted to take part in more activism, and we just built on that,” said club leader Amanda Inglis.
Now, having teamed up with VIUSU’s Women’s Collective, they are planning several discussion groups to build on the one they held in the fall semester. These discussions will be dedicated to rape culture, sex positivity, gender-based violence, and the internet.
“The last one had too much content, but it went on a lot of interesting tangents,” said SOSC member Alida Kelly. “So this time we’re breaking them up.”
The next especially big event will be The Inequality Games which, with partnership with the Sociology Students’ Union, will highlight different aspects of inequality.
“For example, there will be a bake sale where prices for women will be cheaper to represent the wage gap,” said Kelly. “Privilege is a touchy thing, so it’s about engaging in a way to recognize it, that is fun and inspires an intersectional way of thinking.”
There will also be a unique obstacle course where participants will pick a label out of a hat and have to do the course as if they are representing that label. “For example, compared to a white heterosexual male who will have fewer obstacles to go through, a homosexual Asian female will have more,” said Inglis. “It’s not about saying you have it better off, it’s about respecting both sides.” So far, SOSC has already held several other successful events.
They participated in “Halloween for Hunger” where they collected a large donation for the food bank, and in December participated in “Dressember,” a campaign using fashion to advocate for women who’ve been exploited for their feminity. To do so, the women in the club took on the challenge of wearing a dress for 31 days and unexpectedly raised $100 for human trafficking awareness.
“Since we’re privileged white girls we wore pants underneath,” Inglis joked. “But it was great.”
In January, they held a “Bring Back the Holidays” party in support of the Nanaimo Extreme Weather Shelter where they raised $700 for Nanaimo’s homeless.
In addition to the upcoming events, the club’s goal is to expand on campus and get involved with other departments. “We’re just a lot of people dedicated to making change,” Inglis said.
The Inequality Games will take place March 7 and 8 at the Royal Bank Plaza. Further information for all of the events will be available soon. You can find the SOSC on Facebook or email them at organization4socialchange@gmail.com to stay updated.
The club meets every other Monday at 2:30 p.m. in bldg. 356, rm. 317. The next meeting will be on March 2.
