The Dickinson College chapter of Amnesty International, a human rights-focused non-governmental organization, has been reestablished on campus this fall.

President Maddy Zegeer ’21 wanted to reinstate the club because she believes “it is important to have some type of involvement with human rights.”

“What is especially important to me is that Amnesty is a non-partisan organization,” said Zegeer. “So students from all political backgrounds can feel comfortable supporting international human rights campaigns without feeling pressure to support any particular political agendas.”

Zegeer first started planning the club’s implementation on Dickinson’s campus over the summer. “I contacted Amnesty International for beginning a student group back in July,” she said. “In the first weeks of the semester, I met with my advisors [Women’s and Gender Resource Center Director] Donna Bickford and [Electronic Resources & Web Services Librarian Jess Howard to edit the constitution and send in the paper work for [Student] Senate.”

While the meeting turnout so far has been “smaller than expected” according to Zegeer, the club is still working to agreeing on a time that works well for all members.

The college’s chapter of Amnesty International has a sporadic past regarding student participation. In a Dickinsonian article published on April 10, 1985, the club reportedly held its first meeting on April 4 of that year after “a semester of inactivity” according to the article, citing a “lack of student and financial support from the college community” as a cause of the club’s failure during the fall 1984 semester.

One of the club’s first events is a coffee chat today, Nov. 29, with Charles A. Dana, professor of political science, and Professor David Strand, chair of the political science department. According to Zegeer, Strand founded the first Amnesty International Chapter in 1980. The event will be held at 8:30 p.m. in Althouse 110.

Cristian Tineo ’22, the club’s secretary, got involved with the club because he was involved with his high school’s diversity council and he sees the club as “an extension of the good we can do in this world.”

The club is also planning Write for Rights week, a human rights campaign that involves “a collective action of writing letters to convince government officials to free people unjustly imprisoned and end other abuses” says Zegeer.