Northwestern’s Gamma Chi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha held a Know Your Rights educational session with the Black Pre-Law Association for community members Wednesday.
The session taught attendees about protesting rights, including protest and demonstration rights, rights in case of conflict with federal agents, leasing rights and amnesty policy. It also provided students with contacts in case of confrontation with federal agents.
Gamma Chi president and Communication senior Kaleigh Medlow said the event was intended to embody Alpha Kappa Alpha’s “Advocate for Social Justice” initiative, which promotes bringing knowledge, tools and support for communities to advocate for themselves.
“That’s how we landed on this idea of like, ‘What can we do, and also, what is really needed at the time for students?’” Medlow said.
Medlow said the event intentionally included resources spanning several topics to include students living both on and off-campus.
She said the sorority was prompted by the nation’s “current political climate” to expand its resources, particularly as an organization historically dedicated to uplifting the African American community.
“With ICE being here in Chicago, that’s definitely something that is very relevant for the international organization and has pushed us as a chapter to also ask ourselves, ‘What can we do for our local community and for our students to make sure that they feel protected and prepared?’” Medlow said.
The workshop is part of Gamma Chi’s Skee-Week, which highlights the sorority’s initiatives to “Strengthen Our Sisterhood,” “Empower Our Families,” “Build Our Economic Wealth,” “Enhance Our Environment,” “Advocate for Social Justice” and “Uplift Our Local Community.”
Each Skee-Week event starts at 7:08 p.m., a reference to the sorority’s founding in 1908.
“Our chapter would not be able to do the things that we are able to do without the collaboration from community partners, whether that’s on-campus or off-campus,” Medlow said.
In addition to clarifying misconceptions related to Miranda and First Amendment rights, the workshop discussed students’ rights and provided hotlines to call if confronted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
For the BPLA, collaborating with Gamma Chi was a way to highlight their organization’s work in encouraging and aiding Black students with an interest in law, BPLA Vice President of Internal Affairs and Weinberg senior Hannah Ajogbeje said.
She said education in the different legal areas covered by the workshop helped build a stronger sense of community.
“It also brings us closer when we work together to be able to educate our students outside of the institution’s educational spaces,” Ajogbeje said.
At the end of the event, organizers provided hypothetical situations for participants to assess what they learned and still wanted to explore.
SESP junior Giselle Lebron said the event helped broaden her knowledge of privacy rights in Illinois.
“I liked the open discussion,” Lebron said. “Hearing other people’s opinions made me get a deeper understanding.”
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