Taking a STAND

Though Portland State sociology student Mary Tanner is only 25 years old, she already knows she wants to spend the rest of her life giving humanitarian aid.

With her entire life in front of her, she said there is no question but that this is her vocation, and that Africa is the best place to make use of it.

It’s what she was born to do, said Tanner.

For the past year and a half, Tanner, a Phoenix, Ariz., native, has become passionate about helping to cease ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan, which began in 2003 and has taken approximately 400,000 lives through war, disease and displacement of residents.

“I have always wanted to do something meaningful and help people in some way,” Tanner said. “There are not more needy people on the planet than those in Darfur.”

Unable to cope with the notion that educated students cannot provide help for the people of Darfur, Tanner said she hopes to establish a chapter of the national student anti-genocide coalition STAND at Portland State.

Over the past two years, Tanner’s interest in Africa has heightened after reading books and watching several documentaries on the subject. She has never visited the massive African continent, but hopes to travel there shortly after graduating this spring.

“I have just cultivated a passion for Africa,” Tanner said. “There is beauty there, but there is also sadness and deprivation.”

In order to establish the anti-genocide coalition, STAND needs proof of a group comprising at least four to five devoted, committed individuals, she said.

Tanner has attempted to recruit for the coalition by making announcements in her classes and by submitting posts on a MySpace group devoted to PSU sociology students. One student has agreed to join her cause thus far.

The coalition would strive to increase awareness of human atrocities around the globe and encourage change, she said.

With over 600 college and high school STAND chapters across the nation, various methods have been used in the past in order to accomplish these goals. Tanner said she hopes to use Darfur report cards that grade how government officials react to the genocide, and a die-in, where people simulate genocide by acting as if they are dead, to spread the word at PSU.

“I feel like Portland is a prime place for this to happen,” Tanner said. “And looking back on history, I feel like social change has always required the student population. Being from this country, we have the resources to support and educate people.”

Tanner said she feels so strongly about the need to save the Darfurians that the mere thought of Africa and its disadvantaged people brings tears to her eyes.

“We have an obligation to educate others and empower people to take action, and hopefully save lives,” Tanner said.

Classmate and friend Tyanne Conner, a graduate sociology student at Portland State, said Tanner is unique and ambitious, with a passion for helping others and a knack for always being informed.

“She is kind of an anomaly,” Conner said. “I’m in awe of her sometimes because she does a lot of reading, and is aware.”

Conner said she would support a STAND chapter at Portland State. However, Tanner knows it will take more than two individuals to make a difference, she said.

“People from an advantaged culture need to help out so that Africa’s potential can be realized,” Tanner said.

For more information about creating a STAND chapter at Portland State, contact Mary Tanner at [email protected].