The University of Idaho Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and fellow sponsors will hold events around campus to raise awareness about human trafficking for the third year in a row. Programs include a guest speaker and other events throughout the month and into March.
A member of Fiji and leader of the coalition, senior Zachary Goytowski, said when his fraternity brothers started this process they didn’t want to do an ordinary philanthropy project.
“We sat down and we said this is an issue that we want to make a difference on, but we don’t want it to be the normal Greek event,” Goytowsky said. “Your typical Greek house has a philanthropy that they do and it’s kind of restricted to the Greeks. We wanted to be a little different than that, so we wanted to invite whoever wanted to help sponsor the event to do so.”
Since those early plans, sponsors have ranged from clubs and fraternities from UI and Washington State University, as well as residence halls. Sponsors this year include Alpha Gamma Delta, Phi Gamma Delta, Theta Chi, World Vision ACT:S, Love 146 and ASUI.
Goytowski said he is pleased with the support of the community and even though there are different organizations every year, the feeling is always the same. He said organizations have started contacting him about getting involved.
“It’s been brought out of the same spirit of trying to raise awareness about human trafficking … working not as just one organization, but as a coalition,” Goytowski said.
ASUI’s contribution this year is sponsorship of Sergeant Doug Justus, who served on the Drug and Vice Department in Portland, Ore., and will be on campus Monday to speak about the difficulty of prosecuting traffickers in the United States, and on trafficking on a domestic and international level. His speech will be at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Building ballroom.
Senior Aaron Boyle, who has attended the two prior years of events for human trafficking awareness also grew up near to Justus and was a friend to his son. He said Justus’ long history of police work and knowledge of human trafficking make him an ideal person to speak at the event.
“I think everyone will learn a lot, and really appreciate a lot of his stories,” Boyle said. “He is the reason I want to be a cop.”
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Idaho Commons there will be an introduction to swing dancing where information pamphlets on human trafficking will be handed out.
On Thursday, the annual chalking campaign will take place. Facts about human trafficking will be found all around campus grounds, as the coalition hopes to make the problem more visible.
The Dance for Justice will be held from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. March 2 in Memorial Gym.
An attendee of last year’s event, junior Audra Borden said last year’s nine-hour dance was memorable and enlightening, as participants from separate chapters danced throughout the night and participated in a human trafficking simulation.
“It was a lot of fun for a good cause and I am very excited to do it again,” Borden said.
This cause is one Goytowski said members of his fraternity take seriously, thanks in large part to a trip they took during spring break that helped them realize how serious this cause is.
“We went to Washington, D.C., and we worked with a domestic sex trafficking refugee sight called Courtney’s House,” Goytowski said. “We spent our spring break volunteering there and worked with some of the people who help victims of sex trafficking, and I think it really made an impact on a lot of the guys.”