Contact:
If you’d like to get in touch with us, email Lucy Herz at ljherz@gmail.com or Phillip Dupree at phillip.dupree@gmail.com. Thanks!
What is IVSJ?:
Intervarsity Social Justice is a subgroup of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Columbia University. In years past IVSJ has raised thousands of dollars to support World Vision’s initiatives in Uganda - including the building of a maternity ward in Gulu, Uganda - and has gotten hundreds of children sponsored through World Vision. Right now, we are raising awareness of the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets - the modern day slave trade - and raising funds to fight, not low wages or bad working conditions, but legitimate slavery right here within New York City.
We are a group of students committed to raising awareness and funds to fight some of the ridiculous wrongs in our world today. We are committed to looking outside the “ivy league bubble” and seeing the world for what it really is - a place of amazing potential, but one in which the few live with all their needs met while the many languish in poverty and even slavery. We want to change this. Join us.
The Team:
Lucy Herz is a senior at Columbia majoring in Philosophy and Anthropology. She fell in love with New York City and all that it has to offer when she moved here from the microscopic but beautiful town of Highlands, NC in 2007. After seeing the film Call + Response (which will be screened on March 31!) in 2008, she knew immediately that she had to do her part to end slavery and quickly developed a passion for modern day Abolitionism. She has been Social Justice Coordinator for InterVarsity for the past year and has loved every minute. Lucy’s favorite things (other than social justice, of course) include the mountains, her two dogs, Avett Brothers, live music, New York City, and a really great movie.
Phillip Dupree is a senior at Columbia majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Political Science. After a ridiculous, eye-opening Ethics course in high school, he has made social justice and righting the insane inequalities in this world one of his priorities. He has faithfully called himself an Abolitionist ever since first seeing Call and Response two years ago. When not working to save the world, Phillip spends his time building robots, participating in FIRST Robotics as a college mentor, rocking out on the clarinet in Intervarsity’s praise team, longboarding, and climbing buildings as Co-Captain of Columbia Parkour.
Megan Armstrong is a sophomore studying Biomedical Engineering. She decided to get involved with the I Am An Abolitionist Campaign because she was angry at the injustice of the human trafficking industry. Tired of idly looking on at what other people were doing, she decided to play a part in bringing freedom to the prisoners and releasing the oppressed.
Hannah Ellison is a Columbia College first-year student, heading up the Mock Slave Auction event for this year’s Freedom Week. She has always been passionate about social justice, but only recently learned about the prevalence of modern day slavery. She believes Columbia University can and must play a huge role in triggering the beginning of the end of this atrocity.
