By Andrea DeHaan, CHaSS Communications Editor
USU students and faculty walked laps around USU's Quad to raise money for malaria. (Photo credit: Nathan Stewart)
On Nov.16, USU’s Philosophy Club, Effective Altruism Club, and ethics classes organized a walk-a-thon in support of the Malaria Consortium, a charity with a proven track record of making an actual impact through donations.
“It is important to try to encourage students to think about whether or not they want to live their lives differently in light of what they're thinking about and learning,” said Mike Ashfield, assistant professor of philosophy, who called this a pilot project between classes and clubs that involved majors and non-majors.
Before its start, the walk-a-thon, which was primarily organized by EA Club President Bella Lonardo, Phil Club President Jack Leonard, and Phil Club VP Justin Nafziger, had already raised $1,500. Multiple students and faculty signed up to make laps around USU’s Quad between 3 and 6 p.m., and donors had the option of either sponsoring a per-lap amount or making a one-time donation in support of the fundraiser.
According to the Effective Altruism website, EA “is a research field and practical community” invested in helping others but with maximum efficacy. USU’s club of the same name is based on the EA movement.
Students in Ashfield’s ethics course have been discussing Peter Singer’s “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” an essay considered foundational to the EA movement. Singer asserts that affluent individuals should donate more resources to humanitarian causes — far more than what is considered typical in Western cultures. Philosophy faculty like Ashfield, Rachel Robison-Greene, and Michael Otteson used the walk-a-thon as an experiential exercise to help students think through what it means to be both altruistic and impactful.
Nursing major Ella Woodruff and sociology major Kate McDonald were walking together at the event. Both are taking a social ethics course this semester and asked their parents to donate to the cause.
Woodruff participated to bring awareness to issues like malaria. “My mom’s sponsoring me for every lap I walk,” she said.
The class reviewed proposed charities from a list of the most impactful organizations and voted to support the consortium. In the end, the event raised a total of $2,085.
“There's value added in learning outside the classroom,” said Ashfield. “This is really just a starting point for us.”
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