Author: Gregory Bove

Gregory Bove

Through the course of the semester, I developed my idea from a simple fund supporting Azza Soliman’s cause for gender equality in Egypt into an idea which required ultimately no money, and was able to support her cause while also allowing me to become closer with the cross country and track team here at Lafayette. Through them, I created a piece of art which communicates the message of equality.

Attached is a photo, which is an outline of Egypt with a gender equality sign in the middle. All of the lines are constructed from sentences that my teammates wrote regarding the importance of fights against inequality and injustice in our world.

I thought that the personal project would be more of an academic ‘to-do’, but in reality it was a confidence builder for me, as I had to talk with others who I normally do not talk to, and it was a team building exercise, as I became more acquainted with my team members, and them with each other.

So, after looking to Amnesty.com to find out about Azza Soliman, I was ultimately able to help her cause while helping a cause of my own, which I thought was special. 

Gregory Bove

For my personal project, I have ultimately decided to create a piece of art which demonstrates the message of equality among all humans, especially between different genders in Egypt. I decided to do this because it was the best way that I deemed fit to both connect the track team and to show support for Azza Soliman, a woman’s rights activist in Egypt who is currently in prison for speaking out against the inequalities that reside there today.

After looking to Amnesty.com to find out about Azza Soliman, I was able to collect a number of statements from the Lafayette Track and Field team, as well as the Lafayette Cross Country team, about the importance of equality in our world today. I will take these sentences and create a picture out of them, which will be the gender equality symbol inside an outline of Egypt.

I believe that the effect of this project will be that the team will now have something which we can say that we all contributed to, and it also allowed me to more closely connect the Track team with the Cross Country team because we were able to come up with these statements in small groups of people which included track and cross country members.

For my project, I have decided that I am going to have my team members write either why they think it is important that we speak out against social injustices, as Azza Soliman has in Egypt, or why they think equality in general is important. However, what this has helped me to realize is how separated the distance runners are from the sprinters on the track team. I have spent about two weeks attempting to speak to them about it, but I seldom come in contact with any of the distance runners because we do not practice together. This has created a sense of division among the members of the team, and I plan to use my personal project to try to be more friendly with the cross country members.

So while there is a divide between team members, I see this divide not as a negative aspect of our team, but rather as a challenge for the team to overcome as a whole. By eventually getting everyone’s thoughts on this, I will be able to create what I decided will be an art project that displays a map of Egypt, and a gender equality sign in the middle, which is made completely of the answers that the team members will write. This will have the explicit social message of gender equality, which is what Azza Soliman has fought for in Egypt. Creating this art project and simply being able to communicate better with other members on the track team will benefit both a presence of social justice and a sense of friendship among the team.  

My first week with this project brought me on a path which I was not expecting. For my project, my goal was simply to raise money for what I believe to be a good cause. To start, since I am on the track team, I thought that I would be comfortable talking to most members of the team about whether or not they were willing to donate a small amount, which would be about 1 to 5 dollars. However, in looking over my plan, I realize that my project focuses too much on money, which seems materialistic to me. Additionally, I feel that this project could help improve the team relations.

Thus I have decided to modify my project. Instead of simply telling them that this Amnesty International donation is for a good cause and that they should donate, I am going to have my team members write either why they think it is important that we speak out against social injustices, as Azza Soliman has in Egypt, or why they think equality in general is important. I think putting together a project like this will be supportive in artistic and financial ways to social justice in the world, and it will help a cause in a different continent while also helping improve relationships. Our relationships will be stronger because in the end, the team can look at their reasons for finding social justice important, and realize that they all contributed to a cause, together, with nonviolent means

As my project develops, I will incorporate getting the students of Lafayette as a whole involved in this project.