The Omnibus

Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: Forum

Media Credit: Zach Henderson Senior Ivry Karamitros started a new organization at Sourthwest Baptist University. The student-led group is called Raise Your Voice.

Newly elected Student Body President senior Ivry Karamitros has a lot on her plate. Not only with leading the student body, but she is also the founder and president of a new organization on campus called Raise Your Voice.
"Our mission is to serve the students at SBU, our community, our nation and our world through the discussion of ideas. After this discussion, we will host several service projects," said Karamitros. "The purpose of discussion is not to divide our students, but to unify us in possessing diverse opinion and acting upon it by serving our student body, community, nation and world."
Karamitros had a revelation while reading magazines and newspapers:
"Theoretically, while we are in college, we are supposed to be exercising our minds and developing them to think critically about our environment and ourselves.
"Excluding the classroom, where and when do we do that at SBU? We don't. After a couple of days of mulling this situation in my head, I felt that the only way we could have a student-led discussion about ourselves, our society and culture would be if we had a student-led organization that provided a venue and means for it."
"Our campus needs an organization that allows and facilitates student-led discussion," added Karamitros. "[Dr. Bob Klostermeyer] told me about some past organizations that were similar to this in the state and felt that SBU needed it as well. That was all I needed to know in order to get the ball rolling."
The group has seven categories: Environmental, led by sophomore Ryan Williams and junior Lance Dykes; science / technology, led by junior Aaron Adler; health / fitness / safety, led by sophomore Kenen Martiez and freshman Chris Roberds; women's rights and interests, lead by junior Charlotte Holman and the organization's president, Karamitros; music / arts, lead by freshman Joe Moore and senior David VanBebber; political / legal, led by junior Josh Erickson and seniors Ben Nielsen and Josh Baggett, and business / economics, led by senior Terrance Avery and Missouri State graduate student Mohammed Ibrahim. Each category is responsible for a major event, service project and a general service in a school year's time.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools