Festival celebrates human rights

The Penn State community will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights during "Get Up! Stand Up! A Festival of Social Action" at 6 p.m. today in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center.

The declaration, created by the United Nations in 1948, contains 30 articles with a wide variety of rights every nation must respect, said Tony North (graduate-developmental psychology), member of Penn State's Amnesty International.

The festival will enable different progressive groups to discuss their agendas, said Steve Goodreau (graduate-anthropology), an Amnesty International member. It also will provide students opportunities to get involved in a variety of social and international issues, he added.

"I think there are dozens of groups in campus that are similar and overlap with each other in the work that they do and the issues that concern them," Goodreau said. "But, unfortunately, they don't always know what each other is doing. We want to build a coalition among all those groups."

To bring awareness to global issues, the evening will feature a speech by Melinda St. Louis, former Penn State student, who will describe the oppression suffered by women working in factories in El Salvador.

As part of the celebration, there will be performances by The Earthtones and NOMMO Performing Arts Company. Admission is free.

--by Alexandra Rodríguez