Students can have an informed democratic opinion

Students can have an informed democratic opinion

by Amanda Klouzs
Michigan Journal
1/1/2005

Americans for Informed Democracy, or AID, is a non-partisan group whose main goal is to raise global awareness worldwide. AID is currently a part of over 175 campuses and 10 different countries.

Razi Jafri, a UM-D student, is the Vice President of Membership for the Midwest and Western U.S. chapters of AID.

During the middle of last summer, Jafri was invited by email to attend a retreat in Vermont. The purpose of this retreat was to help Jafri become equipped with all he needed to start our own AID chapter on campus.

"I attended the retreat and it was a wonderful experience," Jafri said.

He said he has always been interested in foreign policy, globalization and international affairs and thanks to AID, he has had ample opportunity to become involved in these interests.

AID hosts what they call the "Global Town Hall Series" that has taken place at several universities across the U.S. In addition to these town hall meetings, AID sponsors individual meetings and lectures.

The forums that AID provides and the use of video conferences help students and other interested people understand global affairs and foreign policy issues more clearly.

So far, AID has been successful in raising the awareness and interest in democracy amongst university students, which is their main goal.

On our own campus, AID has held video conferences and town hall meetings and according to Jafri, they plan to continue with the trend of these events.

Last October, AID held a video conference with Al Akhawayan University in Morocco. The topic of discussion was an ongoing series called "Face to Face: Middle America & the Muslim World" and the specific conference was "American Power and Global Security."

Also held during the month of October was another installment of a series. This series was "Hope Not Hate." Two speakers addressed a group of around 40 people about civil liberties in the U.S.

In the upcoming months, there will be more town hall meetings, lectures and discussions to help bring people from different perspectives together to discuss political issues in the U.S. in relation to the rest of the world.

"AID seeks to build a new generation of globally conscious young student leaders who can shape an American foreign policy," Jafri said about what AID does for students.

Students can look forward to more meetings and lectures held by AID here on campus in the near future and Jafri says about his involvement in all things AID, "the great irony in all of this is that I am not even a student of political science, international relations or anything related. I am actually an engineering student."

To learn more about AID or how you can become involved, you can email Jafri directly at razi@aidemocracy.org or visit AID's website at www.aidemocracy.org.