USC’s Interfaith Peace Organization partnered with United University Church (UUC) Student Fellowship to present the first out of many discussion series titled Urban Community Impact (UCI) Wednesday.

(Photo by Ebony Bailey)

This semester, the group will hold discussions on local community peace-building, law and public advocacy, global conflict and peace, interfaith peace heroes and homelessness to raise social awareness on campus and among students. Wednesday night's event focused on immigration issues.

“As we started discussing programming for the upcoming year, both organizations realized there are lots of students with energy and interest in topics of justice and peace,” said Katherine Schofield, UUC Student Fellowship's minister for Campus Engagement. “UCI introduces local, community and world issues and strong encourages students to reach out into the community.”

UCI is a new program that plans to help USC students, faculty and staff get connected with the community in working on issues through various lectures and discussions.

“It became clear that if we connected with students around these specific topics, we could cultivate numerous entry points through which campus and community could come together to work towards a broader understanding of peace,” Schofield said.

The events start with a panel of representatives from community organizations and student groups who speak on specific topics. Following the presentations, students and participants discuss the problems and ways to get involved. Students will also get the opportunity to learn from professionals working hands on in peace building in the community.

“A topic such as immigration is an ongoing, complex issue and will present many controversies in the future,” said Greg Simons, a representative from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A. “It is up to the young people to follow the issue and work with others in the community to make permanent changes.”

UCI will hold five more upcoming discussions this semester as well as many in the spring.

Reach Suji Pyun here.