“[The turnout] certainly helps affirms your faith,” Hamilton said. “This is the launch of what is going to be a long-term campaign.”
Events such as this one have occurred on other college campuses, including Yale, Columbia, and Duke, said Jesse A. Sage ’98, associate director of the American Anti-Slavery Group, which aims to bring attention to slavery worldwide.
“What we are doing here is being echoed across the country,” Sage told the assembled crowd. “You are sending a message that students and Americans will not be silent.”
Students in attendance reacted positively to the event.
Ben B. Collins ’06, a social studies concentrator in Eliot House who co-drafted the divestment petition, said he was impressed by the turnout and the speakers.
“I’m optimistic that it could result in a long-term focus on Africa,” he said.