The 8th Annual Organized Radical Collegiate Activism Conference will be held this Friday, February 9, in the Hill Student Center. Organized by UAB’s Social Justice Advocacy Council (SJAC), ORCA allows students to present on the state of activism and advocacy work on campus. In preparation for the conference, Kaleidoscope spoke with Nikhita Mudium, an ORCA Conference Coordinator, about some of the highlights and expectations for the conference.
The theme for the 2024 conference is “ABCs of Change.” Mudium explained the theme is an extension of last year’s conference theme, “Finding Your Why.” “This year we wanted to expand upon that and say, ‘okay, you have your passion, you have your purpose, what do you do with that now?’ Activism is never a one-person show,” said Mudium. “Activism equals collaboration and there’s steps to do that.”
Two keynote speakers are set to open the conference: Yamini Bhat, founding Executive Director of Birmingham Corp, and Dr. Marcus Briggs-Cloud, Maskoke language revitalizer and Co-Director of eco-village Ekvn-Yefolecv in south Alabama. Both local activists and community leaders, Bhat and Dr. Briggs-Cloud will speak on their journeys into activism and how they developed their actionable goals.
Mudium said the conference emphasizes helping students turn their passion for social justice into actionable goals. “The goal of this year’s conference is ‘How do we make sure that action and that progress is sustainable?’” said Mudium.
Local non-profits will be tabling at the conference, including the Gulf Scholars Program and URGE Alabama. Dr. Christopher Jones, assistant vice president for the Campus & Community Engagement in the UAB Office of the VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is scheduled as the closing speaker.
“Our presenters have put a lot of hard work, research, dedication and just so much work into putting together their presentations for attendees,” said Mudium. “We hope you can come out, we hope you can learn from our presenters [and] we hope that you can learn from each other.”
The conference will start Friday morning on the third floor of the Hill Student Center. Attendees can RSVP for the conference at Engage. Day-of registration will be open.
