UNC-system happenings for Oct. 12, 2015

Building Community

A Place at the Table, a pay-what-you-can cafe, is under construction in Raleigh. The restaurant will allow patrons to set their own price for their meal or pay for someone else’s.

Maggie Kane, executive director of the project and a recent graduate of North Carolina State University, said she hopes to not only provide healthy meals for the economically disadvantaged but also to use food as a means for building relationships.

“Food could be our tool — good, healthy food that we all deserve and should all have dignity to have could be our tool toward creating community and being inclusive,” she said.

Kane said a lack of positive people in one's life is one of the most significant causes of poverty.

A Place at the Table also aims to connect people from different socio-economic backgrounds, which Kane said is beneficial to everyone involved.

“We want to provide that place for people who just need a place to feel included and welcomed and a place that they can sit at the table with someone who is maybe different than them," she said. "An affluent person can sit next to someone living in poverty, and both people can learn from each other."

She estimates that construction will be completed next summer.

Western Carolina University attends social justice march

The Department of Intercultural Affairs at Western Carolina University sent a group of students to attend the Justice for All Rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Organizer Louis Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam — a religious movement that originated in Detroit. 

The rally took place on the 20th anniversary of the famed Million Man March, a 1995 march that focused on uplifting the black community and was primarily attended by black men. 

Khambrel Ward, director of Intercultural Affairs at Western Carolina University said this message has become more inclusive for the 2015 rally.

“It’s saying justice for all instead of justice for one or two subcultures,” Ward said.

This sentiment was reflected by the diverse group of students from WCU who attended the rally.

“We have student government leaders. We have Greek-affiliated student leaders on our campus. We have student club leaders, but then you also have your freshman, which I think is cool, and also you have graduate students,” Ward said. 

Ultimately, Ward said he hopes the rally will encourage students to think about justice on a broader scale.

“I hope that they can get out there and understand that social justice is a call for the nation, a call for everybody. It might not necessarily affect you, meaning the individual student — but it effects everybody,” Ward said.

Grant helps Winston Salem State University target STIs and substance abuse 

Winston-Salem State University received a $900,000 federal grant to combat substance abuse and the spread of sexually transmitted infection. The money will fund outreach from the University’s Wellness Center through an initiative titled PASSAGES, or Programs Addressing Substance Abuse, STIs and AIDS through Guidance and Education while providing Solutions.

PASSAGES will provide testing and assessments that will identify and direct people to the appropriate medium of care, as well as offering education and intervention programs. 

The university hopes the grant will specifically address substance abuse and infection among at-risk and minority groups.

The Forsyth County Mental Health Association, Coalition for Drug Abuse Prevention in Forsyth County, Southside United Health and other local organizations will collaborate with the University to achieve these goals. 

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