The teach-in, sponsored by social awareness group JUSTICE, is a yearly chance for speakers to educate students and the community about an array of pressing social issues, including fair trade, the conflict in Darfur, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and immigration reform.,”Brazilian dance, magic soap and a whole lot of social justice marked the fifth annual JUSTICE Teach-In held on campus Saturday and Sunday.

The teach-in, sponsored by social awareness group JUSTICE, is a yearly chance for speakers to educate students and the community about an array of pressing social issues, including fair trade, the conflict in Darfur, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and immigration reform.

Kate Novotny, a JUSTICE member and a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the main purpose of the teach-in is to bring awareness to different social justice issues. She said JUSTICE also wants to expose students to different organizations in the community working to bring about education and advocacy for social change.

Novotny said she hoped students in attendance took the issues to heart and will try to incorporate them into the way they view the world.

"Hopefully the teach-in will lead students to take a greater role in bringing about education about issues and live their daily lives with these issues in mind," she said. "We want them to take an active stance."

Novotny said JUSTICE usually invites speakers who cover a very eclectic range of issues, but that this year an especially popular topic among students was fair trade.

"We've seen a really big push to bring about more awareness and activism around fair trade, I think because it is something that is actually tangible for students and can be practically achieved by working with the administration," Novotny said.

Mike Howden, a volunteer for a local fair trade store called Four Corners of the World and one of the fair trade speakers at the teach-in, said Marquette students have already played a large part in the struggle for fair trade practices on college campuses.

"Students have really led the way in all of this," he said. "They have worked on this and pushed campuses, and they have formed a sort of second-generation campaign."

But Howden also said there are many struggles regarding production practices around the world that still need to be amended.

"Companies have virtually taken the cost of labor out of the cost of clothing," Howden said. "Just think about what a horrible thing that is."

Kerida O'Reilly, another JUSTICE member and a junior in the College of Health Sciences, estimated around 30 people attended the teach-in throughout the weekend, the majority of whom were Marquette students.

O'Reilly also said one change that was made to the teach-in this year from years past was the involvement of more student groups and organizations.

"Originally the purpose of the teach-in was to bring in people from the community, but this year we also tried to incorporate more student groups," she said. "In the past most of the speakers have been more experts, but this year we wanted to focus on students learning from and teaching other students."

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