Give Solidarity Project All Your Money

In a world tinted with nuance, Solidarity Project is refreshingly straightforward. The Solidarity Project began days after the Virginia Tech tragedy as a way to remember the 32 victims killed that day. The goal of the Solidarity Project was to establish a $10,000 scholarship in the name of each of the 32 victims, along with a $10,000 scholarship for mental health research. By selling shirts $10 at a time, Solidarity Project has exceeded their goals to condemn violence on campus, promote education, and build a national body of charity inclined-college students. Each shirt is a living memory of the tragedy and an attempt to prevent future tragedies.

Solidarity Project was founded by Sarah Khasawinah, a junior and student body president at Bryn Mawr college near Philadelphia. Joining Sarah in the venture are Bryn Mawr classmates Suzanne Ali, Nafisa Misawa, Dorrie Tang, Tara Malone and  Nashmia Khalid. After Virgina Tech announced their intention to create a $100,000 scholarship to honor each of the victims of the massacre, Khasawinah decided that the money she raised from Solidarity Project t-shirt sales should go towards that effort. The idea quickly expanded to garner support from all 139 colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.

“The goal of the project is to develop a network of solidarity all across the nation,” Khasawinah said. “Everyone has been so supportive, from family and friends, to people I have never met. When my 8-year-old niece from Missouri heard about the project she decided to spend her four months worth of allowance that she had been saving for something big on one shirt."

The most refreshing thing about the Solidarity Project is that there is no catch. Long before college, Khasawinah distinguished herself as a student leader and philanthropist, dedicating her time to increasing awareness of diversity in and around her Northern Virgina high school, as well as tutoring non-English speaking friends and working to promote diversity awareness. As a student, Khasawinah continues to rack up honors and accolades and our collective futures are brighter with people like her  on the case.