A.S. continues to grow and change in response to student initiatives. Although A.S. has a long history of addressing human rights issues from apartheid to conditions at Guantanamo Prison, this year for the first time Legislative Council voted to establish a Human Rights Board as an official A.S. group.

The A.S. HBR grew out of the work of the Human Rights Group registered with OSL and still active to work in tandem with A.S.

HBR serves as a forum centered on facilitating and amplifying the interaction of activist groups – both at UCSB and in our greater community. HBR recognizes its mission of inclusivity by acting as a forum to encourage, advocate, and promote respectful and honest communication regarding basic human rights principles. This includes, but is not limited to, issues of age, class, ability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, religion, race, size, sexual preference, and sexuality.

The main charge of the board is to promote open dialogue, education, and awareness through events, forums, and educational campaigns. The driving force behind this initiative is that ignorance is the primary root of human rights abuses. When we work together we are capable of making a much stronger impact.

This year HBR sponsored the Fair Trade Fair to draw attention to the Fair Trade movement. The goal of this movement is to ensure that international producers of commodities, primarily a variety of foodstuffs, including coffee and cacao, and handicrafts receive fair prices for their products to allow social development and the implementation of sustainable practices.