Letter of Support for Conflict Free Initiative

Below is my letter of support for Weber State University's conflict-free initiative.  Learn more at their blog at: http://wsucongo.blogspot.com

To the Administrators and Board Members of Weber State University

My name is Zachary Stickney.  I am a senior political science major and presidential scholar at Weber State University and have long been an active and engaged member of the campus community.  I have served as President of Weber State STAND,   President and Student Area Coordinator of Utah for Amnesty International, and have been active in varying capacities in Weber State’s Young Democrats chapter, Pi Sigma Alpha, the Richard Richard’s institute for politics, decency, and ethical conduct, and have participated in Model United Nations of the Far West, an organization for which I am currently serving a one-year Board of Directors position.

As a student of international law and human rights activist, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing atrocities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  Worse still, I am troubled by the possibility that, as consumers of electronic devices, we may be inadvertently involved.   Weber State University and its supporters are not to blame for the crisis in the Congo.  However, I do believe that, as major consumers of electronic devices, we have a major opportunity and responsibility to use our leverage to help ensure our products are conflict free.  

As you may be aware, this conflict-free initiative has already had a number of successes nationwide.  Highly respected universities, including Stanford University and Cornell University, have already passed resolutions similar to the one we are proposing for Weber State University.  In addition, the Enough Project and other human rights organizations have proposed legislation in the United States congress calling for increased regulation and transparency in the trade of conflict minerals.  This is truly a nation-wide and historic movement.

Increased transparency in the trade of these minerals will not solve the many problems the DRC faces alone, but it will help ensure that the rebel groups facilitating the conflict will become increasingly financially isolated and unable to fund their activities.  It will also help relieve the burden of the international peacekeeping presence currently stationed in the DRC.  With our help, lives can be saved, violence can be prevented, and order and hope can begin to be restored to the hopeless.

I strongly encourage you to vote in favor of a resolution calling for increased transparency from Weber State University’s electronics suppliers.  In addition, I would like to request a symbolic resolution calling for solidarity with the people of the Congo and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Kind regards,

Zachary J. Stickney
Student
Weber State University