We Got Into Harvard! September 16, 2009

Posted by Ryan at September 16, 2009 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 ) | TrackBack

As you may have seen in our long-running and much-adored "Dumb Comments" series, meat-eaters can sometimes have a hard time coming up with much of an argument in favor of eating animals (aside from everyone's favorite crusher—"it's tasty"). So we were curious—can America's best and brightest do any better?

To find out, we set up a debate on the topic at the top-ranked college in the world—Harvard University. Working with the school's resident veg-heads from the campus vegetarian society, we arranged for a representative from the Harvard debate team to face off against PETA vice president Bruce Friedrich, to answer the question "Is Eating Animals Ethical?"

Ahead of the event, peta2 was everywhere on campus. In the student newspaper, walking around campus in a chicken costume, and even stopping by the dining halls at dinner time to remind students to attend the debate!

The result? A packed room, with more than 250 students ... well, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Now, I know what you're wondering. Who won?

Well, as the Harvard Crimson newspaper reported, "Throughout most of the debate, though a slim majority of the packed Science Center audience admitted to eating meat, [the debate team] conceded [the PETA VP's] arguments about the immorality of being a carnivore in today's world. PETA seemed downright reasonable." In other words, we made an unbeatable case for vegetarianism. :)

Pretty cool, eh?

So what do you say to convince meat-eaters to change their ways?

How to Host a Campus Forum! April 5, 2009

Posted by Ryan at April 5, 2009 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

by Jessica Luna, president of the Harvard College Vegetarian Society

Getting tired of the same old tabling and leafleting? Let Jessica show you how to get people really talking—by hosting a campus forum!

Being part of a student animal rights group is a great thing. However, it's easy to fall into the habit of performing the same demos or tabling routine every month and become disheartened from not seeing tangible results. For example, you might feel frustrated because the dining halls won't serve chocolate soy milk and you haven't heard back from the administration about that "Alternatives to Vivisection" proposal you submitted months ago. But before you throw in the towel, consider directing your efforts toward a different kind of activism: Hold an animal rights conference on your campus! There's no better way to reinvigorate yourself for the cause, inspire budding animal rights activists, and meet plenty of likeminded people from your area.

That's what the Harvard College Vegetarian Society did last September, with the help of peta2. More than 70 college and high school students from the Boston area and beyond traveled to Harvard Yard for a day of activism tips, workshops, networking, and camaraderie. Many of them drove for more than four hours from states like New York and Pennsylvania for this event!

Although hosting a conference may seem intimidating, it's surprisingly easy to pull off with a little advance planning and legwork.

1. Scope out a location. Generally, colleges will allow student groups to use rooms for free, so reserve a large and nice auditorium or room that seats at least 100 students and has a clearly visible stage. Reserve a room on the first floor of a building, if possible, so that off-campus people can find it more easily. Secure the room well in advance of the conference, as the best locations will go quickly.
2. Decide on your speakers and presenters! They will be the main drawing point of your conference. Will they be members of your group? Local animal rights activists? Professors at your school that teach or write about animal-related issues? Send them a formal letter of invitation to the conference and include topics that you'd like them to discuss.
3. No animal rights conference would be complete without an abundance of delicious vegan food. Talk to the vegetarian- or vegan-friendly restaurants in your area about providing a catered vegan lunch for the conference; many will be glad to do so at a discounted rate if you distribute their take-out menus at the event or mention their business on your list of sponsors. It's free advertising for them and cheap, tasty vegan food for you and your attendees!
4. Publicize, publicize! Although it's a conference geared toward students, send out e-mail alerts to all animal rights or vegetarian groups in your area. Many of them will attend to learn about what student groups are doing for animals and will provide literature or information about their own organization. You may want to consider setting up extra tables at your event for other groups interested in sharing information and networking. To attract the most people, post fliers about your conference in college hangouts, coffee shops, natural-foods supermarkets, animal shelters … anywhere! In addition, peta2 can give you information about local activists to contact.
5. Materials! You want your activists to leave full of information to give out to others. Give out stickers, fliers, posters, and lists of vegetarian restaurants and resources in the area.
6. End the conference with an inspirational event—if your conference is a two-day event, you could end the second day by volunteering at a local animal shelter or hosting a fundraising dinner. At Harvard, we held a KFC protest in Central Square. It was a great end to an inspirational day; many parents who attended with their high school-age children were influenced to go vegetarian, and others commented that they were going to transition or recommit themselves to veganism at the day's end.

Boston Took Action! October 3, 2007

Posted by Ryan at October 3, 2007 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

So this past weekend was the much-anticipated peta2 Take Action Conference at Harvard University, and boy was it fun!

The day started off with a rousing welcome and introduction by none other than peta2 head honcho Dan "I look powerful behind a podium" Shannon!

Probably one of my favorite parts of the day though was the "Question & Answer" session, which allowed attendees to talk about any issues they've faced with becoming vegetarian, dealing with unsupportive parents, or other problems in their efforts to speak out for animals!



Of course, it wouldn't be a peta2 event if we didn't end the day protesting outside of a local KFC! Notice Nicole "Needs a Stepladder to Use Pay Phones" Nuss as she stands with the countless other activists to make their voices heard!




So next time the Take Action Conference comes to your town, we had better see you there! Don't even pretend as though you don't want to hang out with the coolest kids in town...




- Ryan