Ithaca College’s student organizations raise awareness about everything from clean water to child slavery to genocide. Yet never before have these groups joined together to collectively promote their causes until this week.

On Monday, groups including Free the Slaves, IC STAND, Water for Sudan, Invisible Children and others hosted IC Justice Night in Emerson Suites. This provided students the opportunity to learn about social justice issues and help raise money for the salary of an abolitionist in Ghana for a year ($2,700) on behalf of Free the Slaves.

The coordinators of IC Justice Night should be applauded for making an attempt to unite social justice groups on campus for the greater good. At the college there are multiple groups that promote social justice causes, but it can be daunting for students to differentiate between them. Not only did the night promote the causes of each individual group, it educated students on issues they perhaps were not aware of.

Social justice groups and others from all different backgrounds on campus are encouraged to continue to band together, reaching a wider campus audience. Fundraising efforts like Free the Slaves’ $2,700 goal are more easily attainable if the group can find more ways to attract students.