April 25+26: Going out with a Party

As the Friday+Saturday section closes out for the semester, we’re leaving you with two big events planned by Millsaps students–Amensty International’s Take Back the Night and Pride Organization’s Pride Run.

Event 1: Take Back the Night
When: Friday, 5 p.m.
Where: Galloway Green (on campus between the New Dorms and New South Atrium)
Price: Free

by Alex Melnick
arts & life editor

Do you want to support survivors of sexual and domestic abuse, attend a giant thrift sale, and have a crazy campus-wide party with the Lazy Boi Band & The Great States? Great news: With Take Back the Night, you can. Take Back the Night is a campus-wide effort to acknowledge and support survivors of sexual and domestic abuse, while supporting the local Stewpot shelter Matt’s House. Here’s what you do:

1. Donate all and any clothes you want to pass on—put them in the buckets in your dorm laundry rooms. Amnesty International will pick them up for sale at the event.

2. Show up on Friday to the thrift sale, starting at 5 p.m. in Galloway Green. Chat with friends. Buy some stuff. Get some swag. (Rinse. Repeat.)

3. Grab a blanket, a buddy and a beverage, and enjoy Take Back the Night! Bands will play, speakers will speak, discourse will be raised. It’s what the Millsaps life is all about.

It’ll be a blast, I promise. Its Amnesty tested, Millsaps approved.

The thrift sale starts 5 p.m., the speakers start at 6 p.m., and the bands start at 8 p.m. Facebook page and info here.

Event 2: Pride Run

When: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
Where: Capital Building

by Alex Melnick
arts & life editor

On April 26, the second annual Pride Run, sponsored by Millsaps’ own chapter of Amnesty International, takes place in downtown Jackson. The route goes through Jackson landmarks such as the historic Greenwood cemetery and the state capitol. Millsaps alumni Douglas Kennedy and senior Alden Howard created the event last year to bring awareness and a sense of community to LGBTQ citizens of Jackson (an idea that seems especially relevant in light of SB 2681 recently passing). This event raised more than $2,000 in the past, and its planners are hopeful for an even more successful second year.

The event will donate proceeds to the Campaign for Southern Equality, a nonprofit that recently visited our campus. CSE focuses on gaining and securing equality for LGBTQ citizens of the South, most often through direct action and messages of faith. The campaign is famous for its “We Do” events, which consist of a peaceful march through a southern city to a local city clerk’s office, where LGBTQ couples apply for a marriage license. The couples are typically denied, but the Campaign for Southern Equality believes the visibility is crucial for LGBTQ rights activism in the South. Several LGBTQ couples applied (and were rejected) for marriage licenses in a CSE event March 25.

Registration for the Pride Run will begin at 12:30 p.m. April 26. Participation is $30 for the general public, $15 for students, and free for any child with an adult. Guest speakers and organizations will speak beginning at 12:30 p.m. Those that register and prepay online prior to April 20 will receive a free T-shirt. If you have questions or concerns, please email Devin Winsett at devinawinsett@gmail.com or check out the Facebook page here.