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FEATURE
THE REFLECTOR
APRIL 17, 2019
RSO fundraises for DWB
Doctors without Borders raises funds, sends medical professionals to aid in humanitarian crises By Reid Bello
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Medicins Sans Frontieres Doctors Without Borders is an organization that sends doctors and nurses around the world to provide life-saving medical humanitarian care for those who would otherwise go without it. Doctors Without Borders is a new Registered Student Organization at the University of Indianapolis that advocates for the actual Doctors Without Borders organization. Sophomore nursing major and Doctors Without Borders President Jennah Koenig started the RSO because she wanted to educate students. However, she said she was not aware that more than just doctors could get involved with the organization. By starting the organization, she said she wanted to make others aware of that too. “I didn't know nurses could do it. I thought you had to be a doctor,” Koenig said. “So, I was shocked and I doubt there's a lot of people out there who know that nurses can do it as well as PT, OT, psychology people. Really, anyone can help with it. I created the club in order to advocate and let people know that it's an option for their future, instead of just thinking it's just for doctors.” Koenig said that in order to make Doctors Without Borders an RSO, she had to email the headquarters in New York and sign a number of contracts in order to become a part of the nationwide organization. She said it took quite
a bit of time, due to the amount of communication that had to occur. Sophomore nursing major and Vice President Tatum Howell said that she also helped in this process. Howell said that she got involved because she has been friends with Koenig since high school, and Koenig reached out to her for support. Howell also said that since
Freshman biology and chemistry major and Assistant to the Event Programmer Caylie Wimmersberger said that she got involved with Doctors Without Borders when she saw the table at Welcome Week. Wimmersberger said that she has always kept up with Doctors Without Borders and that being able to be a part of the RSO and making a difference is important to her. “My favorite part is to be able to raise money and raise awareness for “I created the club in order something outside of the university, something like an interto advocate and let people especially national organization,” Wimmersknow that it’s an option....” berger said. “So, that's my favorite part of that. At least just being something, being part of something that's much bigger and getting they began the RSO, they have had a to be part of the board itself. So to be number of fundraisers, such as on cam- part of that group of people that gets to pus events and dine and donates to make that, even if it's a small difference spread the word about their RSO and to [is my favorite].” help raise money. According to Koenig, they have ad“So, the money [raised] goes directly opted the goal of advocacy from the nato Doctors Without Borders. Our RSO tional organization, and they have also fund does not get any of it.” Howell said. adopted their own goal of fundraising. “We just donate to them. So [if ] there's They hold events on-campus along with crisis situations in the world, they will having a web page from which they send people there and they will go there. fundraise. And this money just kind of helps them “So it's a little bit more unexpected be able to send more people and sup- that it[the RSO] would be here, Wimplies to places that they need them.” mersberger said. “But, I think that since The money donated to Doctors it's become part of our smaller campus, I Without Borders is allocated to three think it's important just it kind of shows things: 89.4 percent of the money is that we’re kind of thinking outside the used for programs, 1.5 percent of it is box and trying to be a part of global used for management purposes and the organizations. So I think that's why it's remaining 9.1 percent is used for more important to have it here on campus to fundraising. introduce that.”
Doctors Without Borders Médecins Sans Frontières, or as it’s known in English, Doctors Without Borders, is an international organization that delivers emergency medical aid to those who have been affected by catastrophic events.
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million liters of water provided during the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in 2017. million cases of Malaria treated. thousand malnourished children admitted to inpatient and outpatient treatment programs. percent of their aid was carried out in instable settings, such as armed conflict.
outpatient consultations in 10.6 million 2017. 25
percent of their programs were located in Asia and the Middle East. Information from msf.org Graphic by Noah Crenshaw and Jayden Kennett
Student creates literature group By Shayla Cabalan OPINION EDITOR
Sophomore molecular biology and biochemistry major Evan Brandenburg has always been an avid reader. From nonfiction to literature to philosophy, Brandenburg said he reads constantly, currently tearing through Victor E. Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Jordan B. Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” and J.K. Rowling’s “The Order of the Phoenix”—a memoir, a self-help book and a young adult novel, respectively. Brandenburg said the diversity in his reading list is part of what has inspired him to start a literature club at the University of Indianapolis. “I kind of recognized a need for this literature group on campus,” Brandenburg said. “It’s really more like a book club, but I’ve been calling it a literature group because we’re going to be talking about more than just one specific type of book in general. We’re going to talk about a wide variety of topics like film adaptations, news, new releases or just anything people are up and excited about.” Brandenburg first recognized this need for a literature group in a class he took last semester. The class, taught by Assistant Professor of English Steve Zimmerly, was an English course focused on analyzing and dissecting young adult literature. Brandenburg noticed that, despite the many different majors scattered throughout the class, all of the students seemed to be passionate about one topic or another. According to Brandenburg, literature brought them together. “I saw a lot of the students in there [that] really had a passion for reading and discussing what they were reading, and sharing that with others,” Brandenburg said. “I just saw, during that class, how passionate people were about the topics, and to hear their voices light up and the enthusiasm they had when discussing what books they were reading… I just wanted to give people the opportunity to do that on campus. And we don’t really have many clubs or organizations that do anything like that.” The group initially started out as a
young adult literature club, but branched out in an attempt to cover a broader scope of reading materials. The group is a product of both Brandenburg and numerous other collaborating professors, the group intends to be a location where people from different backgrounds and majors can gather and discuss literature in a stress-free, no grades environment. Zimmerly said he sees this as an opportunity to enrich a student’s college experience by making literature a voluntary extracurricular as opposed to a required course. “If you look into what general education is supposed to do, and the idea of becoming a well-rounded student beyond your major, I think that reading is such a huge part of that. You have to know how to read,” Zimmerly said. “Reading, if you’re an active reader, even beyond your own field, it bolsters so much. You become a better writer, you become a better reader, a better thinker, your vocabulary goes up… if you read about people’s experiences beyond your own, your empathy level deepens. And so from the standpoint of general education on campus, like, slam dunk, right? It’s awesome.” The literature club is currently in the process of being labeled as an official RSO. Zimmerly says they hope to officially begin operations in the fall of next semester, with the hope of attracting the new, incoming students. Along with reading and discussing literature, Brandenburg hopes to implement a service element to the group, where members would go and read to young children in Indianapolis. Brandenburg, who said he is very passionate about literature, noted that it is very easy to begin an RSO on campus for whatever a student might be enthusiastic about. For whatever special interest a person may have, a RSO can only serve to enhance the experience. “I really want people to know how easy it really is for anybody to start their own [RSO],” Brandenburg said. “If they have something they are passionate about, they should pursue that, because it’s really not hard. And if you can get other students on campus to have an interest in it, then that’s a great opportunity.”
