What if hundreds of college campuses asked the same question?

What if people of diverse backgrounds and traditions came together to address issues of social justice in our world?

What if we, DePaul University students, came together to improve education access in Haiti and promoted the UN’s Millennium Development Goals to fellow students and the greater Chicago area?

This “what if” is not a theory or hypothesis; a conjuration or dream. It is a reality.The Better Together Campaign, a cross-country initiative sponsored by the Interfaith Youth Core and given national endorsement by the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhoods and taking root at hundreds of college campuses across the United States, is bringing interfaith social action to the forefront of campus life.

Each campaign, including DePaul’s will begin with a Speak-In event, which is the official launching event of the Better Together Campaign across Chicago and across the country.

We will bring together students, student organizations, staff, and faculty members to introduce and explicate our campaign topic, education access in Haiti in accord with the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

The “What If” Speak-In is a chance for us to introduce the focus of our interfaith social action campaign to the larger DePaul community and emphasize our interconnected interests and goals in the work we do to build a better world.

We will be hosting a dinner, several discussions, and an array of speakers, videos and presentations that will give all participants a better understanding of the scope and goals of our campaign.

In essence, we hope the Speak-In will promote the idea that, by pooling our resources and energy, we can accomplish much more than solitary efforts alone. We want the DePaul community to come out of this event energized about our focus and ready to work alongside members of different groups and individuals of various backgrounds to promote this social action initiative.

The Speak-In event will also give us a chance to brainstorm with leaders in the DePaul community about how we can make the Better Together Campaign a central aspect of the DePaul experience.

We invite all who are interested in learning more about the Better Together Campaign and our social action initiative to attend the Speak-In event this Monday, November 15 at 6:00 PM in Lincoln Park Student Center Room 314.