Unity Alliance Unites Campus

      Hampden-Sydney's very own Unity ALLiance continues to push forward and this time with a campus wide service project. The Unity ALLiance kicked off the 2009 Spring semester with a rather quite successful campus wide clothing drive. With a couple weeks into the semester students, professors, administrators, and members of the Hampden-Sydney community began to notice the clearly labeled boxes ready to be filled with generous clothing donations.

      The Unity ALLiance members worked hard on designing the labels, hanging up flyers for promotion, and advertising among friends and the student body as a whole. To their surprise their hard work and effort were slowly but steadily paid off. Many of the boxes were filled to their maximum capacity and the Unity ALLiance members conducted many trips to empty out boxes in order to make room for further donations. President  of the Unity ALLiance Mike Matthews stated "I think we achieved the desired goal which was to unite members of our community, work towards a set goal, and reach that goal through the small efforts of every individual. We got students, professors, and other members of our community involved and thanks to them we managed to have another successful event." said Matthews.

      All the donations that were made to the Unity ALLiance clothing drive will go to benefit Madeline’s House. Madeline’s House was created to aid women who were beaten and battered. Madeline’s House Thrift Store sells countless of items such as furniture, clothing, and household appliances. The money made at the thrift store goes to benefit the home that shelters many women in their time of need.

      The Unity ALLiance gathered over 9 boxes full of clothing and over 15 bags also filled with clothing. The success of the fundraiser was evident to the Unity ALLiance members, especially with the many donations that continued to come weeks after the clothing drive was completed.

      This year the Unity ALLiance has been making itself more active and open throughout the campus community. They began the 2008-2009 school year with their well attended student panel discussion "What's the difference?" There they tackled the issues concerning sexual orientation from gender stereotypes, personal coming out stories, religious beliefs, and the strong bonds created with friends and allies through their personal journeys. The organization is working on creating and leaving a positive mark on this campus. The Unity ALLiance is looking forward to finishing this year strong with the planning of one more panel discussion and a furniture drive in the works. This organization is working step by step to insure that they leave a strong and positive mark to close off the school year.

Carlos A. Galicia '12
Unity Alliance President
Intercultural Affairs Committee
Hampden-Sydney College
Box 1036 Graham Hall
Hampden-Sydney, VA 23943