Students for Health Equity is a student group that works to fight healthcare inequality and close the healthcare gap on the Southside of Chicago. We have partnered with Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY) to pressure the University of Chicago Medical Center to reopen their level-one trauma center (the only one on the Southside) and hold the UCMC accountable for its commitment to the surrounding community.
Campaign Updates
In conjunction with FLY, Students for Health Equity has hosted several events to spur discussion and awareness on the University of Chicago campus this past quarter:
10/20/11: Trauma Center Teach-In
Students assembled to hear doctors, medical researchers, and community organizers discuss the relevancy of the trauma center campaign to the Hyde Park/Kenwood/Woodlawn neighborhoods.
10/31/11: March of the Living in Honor of the Dead
FLY and SHE rallied students and community members to march from Cottage Grove to the Main Quads and then to the UCMC. Organizers and activists made speeches, and a group performed an interpretive dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
UCMC Forum (11/10): Student Government facilitated an open discussion between UCMC administrators and FLY and SHE members. Audience members submitted questions and heard different perspectives on the issue, both sides emphasizing a need for better and more direct communication between the UCMC and the community.
