With a heart for social justice and peace, professor and filmmaker Krista Imbesi ‘09 will collaborate with Phil Wilmot ’12 to voice a story of injustice and hopeful reconciliation in the documentary, “Our Feet are Rooted,” exposing the illegal land grabbing crisis in Northern Uganda.

This June, Imbesi and her husband Christian ’09 will partner with Wilmot and his wife, Suzan, founders of the non-profit organization, Solidarity Uganda to tell the story of the Amuru District residents and their struggle against the corporate government violently stealing their land and selling it to multinational oil and sugarcane companies. (more…)

In “The Real Thing: a Play,” Czechoslovakian producer and writer Tom Stoppard wrote, “Words are sacred … If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” Nudging the world toward social change has been the goal of Messiah College’s Theatre and Social Change course since its introduction to the theatre curriculum in 2002. The impetus behind Theatre and Social Change (TASC) came after Messiah College professor Valerie Rae Smith facilitated the student-writing of an original production, “E.D. & Ana,” which studied eating disorders among college students. Smith says, “Students were so responsive to the play and the conversations surrounding “E.D. & Ana” that a general education course was created. By 2002 Theatre and Social Change was a term students used across campus, in the residence halls and in the classrooms.” (more…)

On April 10, students and faculty will participate in Messiah College’s annual Service Day. This year Service Day will extend to Service Week with Messiah alumni serving through on- and off- campus projects, either directly engaging with Service Week, or honoring Service Day by completing projects in their own backyards.

Service Day “is designed to help fulfill Messiah College’s mission to prepare students for lives of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.” As they live the lives Messiah College prepared them for, alumni wanted to continue serving together, says Assistant Director of Alumni and Parent Relations Brittany Claridge ’10. “Alumni wanted to find a way to share and connect their spirit of service back to the tradition of Service Day here on campus. A commitment to service has continued to be a common thread in our alumni community since the College’s beginnings.” (more…)