Displaying support for catastrophes doesn’t always require donations or fundraisers. Sometimes, it can be as simple as changing your Facebook profile picture.

With the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti that has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives, students have been gearing up to show support for the country in every conceivable way. Groups and organizations such as the Haitian American Student Association are utilizing social networks and grass-roots campaigning to spread support for the distraught country.

‘Seeing that Facebook is there, it’s an organization that’s open to the public, that’s the easiest way people try to communicate with me,’ said Cathiana Vital, a senior accounting and marketing major and the president of HASA

Since the earthquake struck, the Syracuse University’s branch of the organization has refocused its efforts toward supplying information on Haiti to SU students and rallying campus-wide support.

Among merely displaying the news, Vital and other members of HASA have employed Facebook in alternative ways to gain support. Chief among these ways is a unique photo that members of the group have shared as their profile picture. The photo graphically details a close-up of a face crying jet-black tears.

‘It’s a picture that, when you’re tagged in it, it asks you to change your profile picture to show unity,’ Vital said. ‘It’s the picture that people are using for unity to show support for Haiti.’

Whether it’s changing Facebook statuses or profile pictures in ways that show support, HASA and other groups have been hard at work raising awareness.

Phi Beta Sigma has collaborated with HASA to create another unique opportunity for SU students by hosting a candlelight remembrance on the Quad this Thursday. The idea behind the event is to not only to raise funds for Haiti’s relief, but to also strengthen the flow of information throughout SU.

‘A lot of students are on Facebook and Twitter and those social networks,’ said senior psychology major Abdul-Karim Abdullah, the second vice president of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, Theta Xi chapter. ‘I think those social networks do a great job at getting people to understand what’s going on in Haiti.’

Phi Beta Sigma intends to raise money and collect clothes, in addition to increasing awareness of the situation in Haiti, Abdullah said.

Personal, interactive forms of campaigning serve as a staple of campus promotion, with students finding creative ways to spread their message in as many different outlets as possible. One of these outlets is being held today, with the nationwide event known as ‘Wear Red for Haiti.’

The purpose of ‘Wear Red for Haiti’ is to grab the attention of as many students, staff and faculty as possible. In addition to representing the nation’s colors, red ‘symbolizes blood, passion, strength and courage,’ Vital said.

Vital sees this nationwide event as the perfect opportunity for students to easily display support and participate in helping raise awareness for Haiti. ‘It’s a way to grab attention to the situation, and if we can do that as a large group, that’s the easiest way to do it,’ Vital said.

Beyond using the networking and street-level campaigning as a personal way to spread information, it’s also an opportunity to build a sense of community on campus.

Kannan Muralidharan, a senior political science and economics major and a brother of Phi Beta Sigma, thinks his fraternity’s candlelight service will break barriers among the student body and bring together the community by working toward a common goal.

‘Not only is it assembling a group of like-minded people, it’s also to unite the students on this campus,’ said Muralidharan. Phi Beta Sigma, which raised $1,500 with the Project Feed Me initiative last year, hopes at least 500 people will attend the event and expects to have folk music, poets and pastors provide information and support for Haiti.

‘Everybody wants to help, and everybody wants to collaborate, so I’m trying to start an event that is a community- and a campus-wide event. It’s going to be huge,’ Vital said.

Support for Haiti should not die out anytime soon. Irving said he plans on making Haiti relief her prime objective during the semester. HASA said that it has also been communicating with Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner to create a collaborative effort between the Syracuse community and SU.

While Vital’s event is still in its infancy and planning has just begun, she said HASA plans on hosting a telethon to bolster support for Haiti relief. By establishing communal support through social networking and campus collaboration, finding people to call in shouldn’t be a problem.

‘The more I get the word out, the more that people get the chance to also get onboard with it,’ Vital said.

ansteinb@syr.edu

Published on January 18, 2010 at 12:00 pm