{"id":174,"date":"2019-07-17T18:17:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/audrianablackwell\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:17:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:17:58","slug":"audrianablackwell","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/audrianablackwell\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 Audriana Blackwell"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WCSU student honored with 2015 Newman Civic Fellowship<\/p>\n

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\"ImageDANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Audriana Blackwell stood in a room in an orphanage in Bogota, Colombia. The orphanage was for children with physical abnormalities or mental conditions whose parents could not care for them. But even surrounded by these children, one young woman stood out. She rocked back and forth in the room and wore a mask to conceal the ravages of untreated AIDS. Blackwell learned the woman, who was in her late teens or early 20s, had been prostituted by her parents so they could earn money to survive.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor the first time I considered how privileged I am,\u201d Blackwell said.<\/p>\n

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Her observation is ironic because Blackwell had a very difficult childhood. As a teenager she became emancipated from her parents and lived in a homeless shelter for a time. She became part of a loving family only as a young adult, when a couple she met in church adopted her.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve had it rough, but for the first time I was confronted with the fact that I was lucky to be born where I was,\u201d Blackwell said, recalling her encounter with the young woman. \u201cI happened to be born here and she was born in Colombia, so we had different outcomes. It made me consider my obligation to society.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Blackwell, 26, graduated in May with a bachelor\u2019s in social sciences<\/a> with a concentration in global studies and a minor in conflict resolution. Her epiphany in the Colombia orphanage led her to study human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of girls and women in Connecticut and across the world. In recognition of that, WCSU professors and administrators nominated her for the Newman Civic Fellows Award<\/a>, which honors college student leaders who work to find solutions for challenging social issues. Blackwell was notified in April that she had been selected for the award.<\/p>\n

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Blackwell arrived at Western<\/a> after being encouraged by a friend \u201cwho saw I had the capacity for higher education.\u201d The friend was right. Dr. Mary O\u2019Neill, an instructor in the Department of Philosophy and Humanistic Studies<\/a>, described Blackwell as \u201cthe single most inspiring and able student that I have taught in my time here at WCSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Blackwell became a leader in the Compassion, Creativity and Innovation club<\/a> and was selected as a scholar in the Hancock Student Leadership Program<\/a>, through which she interned with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and spent a semester exploring the world of human trafficking in the state. Most of these crimes involve adults taking advantage of neglected girls and boys, who often live in desperate economic circumstances. Social media makes it easier for predators to connect with young victims and trap them in a system of abuse and exploitation when what they seek is affection.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLove is a human need,\u201d Blackwell said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not finding it at home, you look elsewhere. Most of this is online, and it\u2019s all being done under parents\u2019 noses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Blackwell had been on church trips to the Colombia orphanage twice and once to Rwanda, when she began to concentrate on Thailand.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs I\u2019ve traveled more, I realized I have that bug for international development work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Blackwell described Thailand as a notorious hub of international human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women. Bangkok features three sex districts that attract foreign consumers of the sex trades from around the world. Thailand also is known as a transit country where women of many nationalities are passed through for visas obtained through bribery. Blackwell applied for a semester abroad through the International Student Exchange Program<\/a> at Western, which allows students to study around the world while maintaining their academic credits at WCSU.<\/p>\n

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While in Bangkok, Blackwell planned to write an anthropological research paper on her work. To prepare, she studied Buddhism at the Redding monastery known as DNKL, which was instrumental in securing a visit from the Dalai Lama to Western in 2012. She contacted several organizations in Thailand that worked with victims of human trafficking but the only commitment she could secure was from one, NightLight International, which told her to let them know when she arrived in Bangkok.<\/p>\n

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Blackwell walked into the NightLight office when she arrived in the fall of 2013 and they put her to work. Her first assignment was to visit bars where prostitutes were on display so she could look them in the eye.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBy making eye contact, I\u2019m saying, \u2018You have value as a human being,\u2019 \u201d Blackwell said. A few of the women would talk to Blackwell and her colleagues and some could eventually be convinced to leave that life and join NightLight in employment making jewelry and T-shirts, which would offer an alternative way to make money.

\n While Blackwell was there, the Thai military conducted a coup that was met with protests and crackdowns that disrupted traffic in Bangkok. To shorten the two-hour ride to the university where she studied, Blackwell bought a bicycle that could be folded to carry on a bus. When she got to the barbed wire fence separating protestors from the rest of the population, she threw the bike over the fence and rode the remaining way to the university. She shortened her trip to 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

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She relates the scenes of chaos and danger in a matter-of-fact way.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn that setting, things are accelerated,\u201d Blackwell said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a war scene, high conflict. There are so many demands. You have to keep going. It is what it is and you keep moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As she grew more experienced, Blackwell began working with non-Thai women who had been transported to Bangkok as part of the international trafficking trade. Partly as a result of her travel to Rwanda, she concentrated her efforts on women from Uganda and Tanzania. She said she was able to build trust with many of them and \u201cI became the thread from that population to the organization.\u201d She taught classes in co-dependency and in English as a Second Language.<\/p>\n

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Although Blackwell was originally scheduled to spend one semester in Thailand she changed her plans and stayed for a year. She said she considered giving up her university career to remain there permanently, but finally decided she could do more good if she expanded her education.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile everything in me wanted to forsake everything and stay in Thailand, I knew that wasn\u2019t doing the best for them,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to get myself in a position to balance the micro and macro approach.\u201d She will apply to graduate schools to continue her studies.<\/p>\n

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Blackwell\u2019s work made her a logical choice to nominate for the civic award, which is named for Frank Newman, an education reformer who founded Campus Compact in 1985 to motivate students to become active in their communities. Newman believed that \u201cThe most important thing an institution does is not to prepare a student for a career, but for a life as a citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Margaret Mead provided Blackwell\u2019s own favorite saying. Mead said \u201cNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it\u2019s the only thing that ever has.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Blackwell said she reminds herself of that statement when confronted with the seeming impossibility of eradicating a problem like human trafficking.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can\u2019t think about it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt can render us incapable. This is the goal and the right thing to do. When you take that one small step for a person, there is a human magic that takes place. People are inspired by people. There are so many things in this world. You need something to be inspired. I believe in humanity. I believe if we inspire each other that ultimately good will overcome evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.
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