Often, critics accuse millennials of being a “hashtag generation,” speaking out but doing little and existing in a state of apathy. Starting this week, the Genocide Relief and Awareness Club at Pitt will provide an outlet for students to go beyond Twitter, breach apathy and tangibly take steps against genocide in our modern world.

The first campus group of its kind at Pitt, the club’s members aim to educate one another on the brutal realities of modern genocide. Ultimately, the group seeks to call for legislative change and bring awareness to the Pittsburgh community and beyond. We urge students to educate themselves through this group and similar undertakings, as with more knowledge about a topic comes a greater ability to move toward change. 

Often as university students, we can easily neglect the outside world, especially the negative aspects of it. By participating in genocide awareness, students learn to care for others not as fortunate as themselves. We must remember that injustice is not a fixture of the past, unceasing in its harmful progression in the 21st century. It is thus our responsibility, as the future leaders of this century, to call for awareness of and action against violence and atrocities in society, whether at home or abroad.

If we as students and as millennials combine the presence of social media with the power of organization, we can make a tangible difference in the fight against genocide, as well as in local issues like police brutality and the #Blacklivesmatter marches. More educated citizens means more voices to shape our generation’s global outlook. 

We applaud the efforts of Pitt’s Genocide Relief and Awareness Club, and urge all students to act instead of only tweeting to better the world in which we all live.