Approximately 800 students gathered in the RecPlex main gym on Friday, March 8, to hear a free concert organized by Consciousness Rising and the Campus Activities Board.
Consciousness Rising, a student-run organization, emphasizes how small, everyday actions of students within the University of Dayton community play a role in the world at large, according to its website. Friday night, through the passion and energy of the performers, students moved to the music and gained more awareness about human trafficking. Performers at the concert included Parachute, Steve Moakler and the Future Laureates.
Moakler, a musician with indie roots and a mass appeal labeled as pop rock, played a key role in spreading awareness at the event.
“A life can be changed when someone decides to care,
simple as that,” he said.
Moakler attended a church service six years ago when the organization Not For Sale presented facts, stories and a film about human sex trafficking. Overwhelmed with disbelief and shock, he spearheaded the founding of an organization called Free the Birds, which funds freedom and restoration for women and children who have been exploited by human sex trafficking.
Moakler thought of this analogy to represent all the women caged by human sex trafficking. This year Moakler made more than 100 bird houses that are on sale to raise profits for the women, especially through an organization called Love146.
“My cause makes my story bigger … there are so many guys with guitars just singing about girls, but I wanted a bigger legacy,” Moakler said.
Regarding Moakler’s passion for music, he said his favorite part of performing is “when someone hears my music, becomes impacted or changed for the better so that we are all on the same level.”
Junior Erin Peery, a business major and human rights minor, is the president of Consciousness Rising on campus. The team of nine executive board members along with Peery worked with campus service clubs, the bands and the president’s office to make Consciousness Rising successful for its second year.
“I hope this event promotes awareness that actually sticks and not just fades after the high so that people’s hearts are changed,” Peery said.
“Tonight’s concert goes to show that no matter what you do in life, you can always give back. I think that more stars should do this and use their talents for good,” said sophomore exercise physiology major Brigid Kovach.
For more information of how to get involved in Consciousness Rising or CAB, contact Erin Peery via peerye@gmail.com or daytoncab@gmail.com.
You can also follow on Twitter @udconsciousness and @DaytonCAB.
[Editor's Note: This story has been updated from its original version.]
