On Oct. 10, the student group Unconventional Activist Alliance (UAA) raised money to donate to organizations that help those caught in human trafficking but as their name says they raised these funds in an unconventional way. Students volunteered to have themselves chained to the columns that support the shading for the benched area around the buffalo statue. For every dollar, that was donated the students would be chained for two minutes.

“Right now, we have enough for them to be here until tomorrow at noon,” Melissa Hansen, a senior math major, said.

The students agreed to be chained up over night and other students would bring them pillows, blankets and food. With this display UAA is hoping to raise $1000 or more so that they can donate a significant amount to each of the five charities that they support, not all of these charities are national or international; one of these charities is locally based in Amarillo.

“I feel that regardless of your religious affiliation, or political party that people can agree that this is wrong,” Molly Satterfield, a junior speech pathology major, said. “A bit of discomfort on my part is nothing compared to them.”

Satterfield was one of the students that had been ‘chained up’ the longest.

“I’m planning on staying out here as long as I can,” Satterfield said.

“I’m here solely to give attention to the cause,” Jasmine Schultz, a junior sports and exercise science major, said.

UAA was joined on the West Texas A&M University campus by the Canyon High School speech and debate team. They started ‘End It’ as a service project and now it has turned into a group.

“We are communicators and it is our responsibility to get awareness out there,” said Bella Barnett, a junior at Canyon High School.
The dorms on the WTAMU campus also took up a collection for the UAA end human trafficking movement.