Bradley students want to make a difference internationally. Now, there is a new organization to help students advocate for positive change-the United Nations Association.
“What I wanted when starting this chapter, was truly to give students a platform to advocate [for] what they feel passionate about,” said the group’s president and founder, Angelica Ballestas, a political science and international studies double major. “We have other international clubs that are amazing, but they don’t provide a platform for advocacy, so that’s kind of what we wanted to do.”
The United Nations Association is a national organization dedicated to supporting the goals of the United Nations. Ballestas corresponded with the president of the Chicago area chapter, herself an alumna, when founding the club’s Bradley branch, and is in direct contact with the national Youth Engagement Manager, Anna Mahalak.
The organization works closely with the United Nations itself, providing ample networking and career opportunities. Ballestas firmly rejects the idea that goals of the UN are not relevant within large, first-world countries like the United States.
“Those goals… all focus on things that we are going through in our own nation, like equal access to education, equal pay for equal work [and] access to vaccination,” Ballestas said.
The club does not want to focus on “programming;” they want to take direct action. Events are planned for UN Day, October 24th, and International Human Rights Day, December 10th.
“I don’t want to just bring a speaker or host a film,” Ballestas said. “I don’t want to… just sit there and do nothing.”
Future events could include the packing of feminine care packages for abused and homeless women, and hosting an email-writing or phone-calling night to State and Congressional representatives. Tentative plans are also in place for a trip to New York to visit the United Nations headquarters.
Ballestas said she doesn’t want the executive board of the club to dominate the agenda. Meetings, held at 7:00 p.m. on Mondays in Bradley Hall 125, include full participation from members. Meetings begin with a summary of current international events, such as the recent storms in China, or the newly-imposed tariffs on soybeans, a topic very relevant to Peoria.
“I just lead the discussions,” Ballestas says. “I’m not talking the whole time because I’m not there to lecture you.”
The next step is announcements; club secretary Sarah Daniels usually facetimes in from Granada, Spain to participate. Then the club transitions to discussion of events, fundraising and voting.
At the first meeting, members wrote down their top five interests. The club set up a word map using the largest words to help set the club agenda. These included LGBT+ rights and the prevention of abuse, and these issues form part of the club’s focus.
“We want our voices to matter,” Ballestas said. “A lot of the government officials thought that they didn’t. But we’re changing that.”
