Written by Heather Fantetti and Craig Maher, students at Monmouth College

My friends and I decided that we needed to start a vegetarian buzz at our school, Monmouth College. We used flyers, pamphlets, stickers and DVDs provided by peta2 to make everyone on campus aware of vegetarianism.

We planned a week filled with vegetarian things. First, we put up flyers around campus with facts from the peta2 website announcing our table outside the cafeteria along with flyers on each table in the cafeteria. Then, we sat at the table for lunch and dinner everyday that week with all the supplies. Also, at our table we had a 30 day Veg Pledge for students to sign.

We ended up getting 21 students signed up for the thirty days. The 30 days began May 1st and ends May 30th.

Every day of the thirty days we are emailing the students facts or recipes to motivate them and to remind them not to eat meat. We are hoping this results in students realizing it really isn’t difficult to become a vegetarian. Our main event of the week was the most exciting, we had a presentation give by both students and a vegetarian professor on campus. This presentation was filled with health, environmental and animal rights reasons to become a vegetarian.

At the end of the presentation we took questions and debated the different topics. I think our week was very successful.

Written by Kirby Mauro, a member of the Animal Welfare Association at Arizona State University

Meatout 2009 at Arizona State University was a great success! The Animal Welfare Association chose to promote veganism by holding a demonstration to show that meat is murder, and flesh is flesh!

We had a table full of great literature and handed out delicious samples of vegan food catered by Green Vegetarian Restaurant (in order to get the heavenly food they had to pledge to try vegetarianism for at least a day, of course!)

We got great responses from both students and faculty! Most people were genuinely interested in what we were doing and why. After seeing the success with this type of event, we hope to hold many more similar events in the future!

Written by Chelsea Lin Bosak, a student at York College of Pennsylvania

My sorority, Theta Phi Alpha at York College of Pennsylvania, wanted to hold a Fur-Free Formal this year to show that you don’t have to kill animals to look your best. We wanted to show that you can be fur-free and still be stylish (note the little peta2 anti-fur buttons we wore all night!)

Many people do not realize that animals are tortured and skinned alive for their pelts and our sorority wanted no part in this cruel business, so we decided not to allow fur at our event.

With so many cruelty-free alternatives, like pleather, and man-made materials like faux fur, there’s simply no excuse to support skinning animals alive for fashion.

Written by Kimberly Costello, a member of the Brock Animal Rights Club (BARC) at Brock University

I recently spearheaded the organization of an outreach/benefit concert titled “Radio-Action for Animals”, with the help of many other members of the Brock Animal Rights Club (BARC). The primary purpose of the event was to raise awareness within the local community about how people can live more compassionate lifestyles and make more informed ethical decisions. Our primary focus was on modern factory farming and promoting vegetarian/vegan diets.

At the event we had outreach tables with display boards and literature on many animal exploitation issues such as factory farming, health/ environmental benefits to veg diets, vegan recipes, battery-cages, anti-fur, animal experimentation, and the Canadian Commercial seal hunt. We also had an amazing free vegan food spread to expose people to different types of vegan foods including vegan pizzas, vegan chili rolls, vegan spring rolls, vegan somosas, breaded tofu fingers, pitas/nachos and dips, and lots and lots of vegan baked goods. The food was catered by a local restaurant that was looking to expand their vegetarian/vegan menu options and many of our club members provided the vegan baked goods.

We also had raffle draws for a cruelty-free (no animal testing, no animal ingredients or by-products) household cleaning products donated by Nature Clean, and cruelty-free/vegan personal care products in addition in addition to free outreach door prizes such as Earthlings/The Witness DVDs, animal rights books, vegan cookbooks, and other vegan/cruelty-free products donated by various companies in the local community.

Lastly, we also recruited 5 local bands representing a wide variety of musical genres to play the event; all bands had at least 1 vegetarian band member.

Overall, the event was very successful. We had over 200 attendees and managed to raise approximately $2000 for an amazing animal charity. We received extremely positive feedback about the vegan food and so we were successful at challenging some of the misinformed preconceived notions about bland/vegan foods. Most importantly we were able to expose people to information about animal exploitation that they perhaps would have never been exposed to otherwise. We can only hope that through making this information easily available to all types of people that we were able to enlighten and empower at least some people to live more compassionate ethical lifestyles.

Written by Danika Rahn, a student at Marquette University

I am helping to lead a campaign to implement a Student Choice Policy at Marquette University regarding classes that use unnecessary animal experiments. I wanted to help with the campaign because the root of human kindness is being an advocate for living beings other than us. The issue of performing cruel tests on animals is devastating to me, because it is outdated and unnecessary.

peta2.com

With the help of close friends and a peta2 crew of four members, we have collected over 1,200 petition signatures on campus—more than 10% of the student population!

The petitions are guiding a piece of legislation in the Marquette Student Government that will implement a Student Choice Policy in all undergraduate courses, giving students a written, verbalized choice of being exempted from unnecessary animal testing in class. I hope to be an advocate for giving Marquette students a choice in whether or not they want a more educational, moral alternative to ineffective experiments.

Written by Meg Malek, president of Students Protecting the Environment and Animals with Knowledge (S.P.E.A.K.)

I stopped eating at our dining halls a while ago, because they really didn’t have the food I wanted to eat. I determined that if I didn’t eat there, that I would save money and eat good veggie recipes that I actually wanted, or at least better ones than they were serving. So when a couple friends came to me to discuss a vegetarian/environmental club I was all for it, and soon we discussed our dining options. I emailed peta2 for support. In addition to the campaign pack we got, we heard that a peta2 crew would be passing through town, and they could help us petition for the better menus!

Together, we gathered more than 3,000 petition signatures from students!

When we talked to our dining services, things went incredibly well. They told us that their job is to hear our wants in the food service, and they were happy to respond to our requests. We stated our desires and showed them the thousands of signatures that we obtained over two days of petitioning. We discussed their options for vegans and vegetarians. They had choices, but they were uninspired and repetitive. They would frequently put out steamed corn or steamed vegetables and call it vegan, and although they would have several of these options, we explained gently that we still needing of sustenance, not just the side dish here and there to satisfy us. We gave them the recipes that peta2 recommended, as well as excerpts from other Aramark cafeterias of their success with obtaining more and better vegetarian and vegan foods in their menus.

Within three days, they started labeling the items they already sold that were vegan and vegetarian as such, and people were definitely reacting. The dining halls added veggie bacon and veggie sausages, and they’re even looking into soy “eggs” for the omelet bar!

There is a very popular ice cream machine that everyone visits before they leave the food halls. It is and always has been vegan ice cream (something that we were unaware of before our meeting), but now it’s clearly labeled!

They still serve a lot of the items they had before, such as a seared sesame tofu over rice, but now they’re adding things to the dish to make them a more complete meal. In that case, they added sesame vegetables. Also, they implemented a program where students can go into any restaurant and ask for specific items to be combined in a “make your own meal” fashion. All the appropriate signage has been placed now so that everybody knows the new policies.

Quite a success for a group that’s only three months old, huh?

Written by Maggie Margaret, co-president of the Hunter Animal Rights Team (H.A.R.T.)

For me, tabling has always been an extremely effective way to communicate to students about animal rights, and having a bake sale is a great way to draw people in. Sometimes, people don’t even realize that what we’re selling is vegan, so when they come to our table to buy, we tell them that our brownies, cookies, or fudge is made without any animal products and why.

Our tables are always beset with literature and we make a point to try to get everyone who comes to buy from us to pick up some reading and engage in a conversation with them. Often times, one of the activists will wear a sign that says, “Ask Me Why I’m Vegan” and that always makes for informative conversation. We run “Meet Your Meat” on our table and it’s so wonderful to see people watching, engaged, vegan brownie in hand.

Written by Sandra Smith, a student at Gadsden State Community College

I was driving down the main road before you merge onto the interstate one morning before class, and a few car lengths in front of me was a chicken truck (I live in Alabama). I thought to myself how awful and sad … those poor animals. They were packed in the truck’s crates and were getting all wet from the rain. They were miserable.

I sat there thinking to myself about the horrible life they are forced to endure. By the time I stopped thinking, the light had turned green and the trucks wheels began to turn and screech … then two chickens fell off! I immediately pulled over to the shoulder, put on my emergency lights and jumped out. There laid two chickens, soaking wet, filthy and covered in blood. One died instantly but the other was breathing heavily. I grabbed an old shirt I had in my trunk and picked her up. I layed her in my car’s floorboard. I could easily tell that this poor creature was in tremendous pain.

I decided I would just be a little late to class so I took her to the vet. The veterinarian said she had a broken hip and warned that she would never be able to walk again. I left the veterinarian’s office and took her home. All I could think about was how I hoped she would be fine and that the veterinarian was wrong. We began to feed her, give her water and a warm place to lay, and named her Hope. She slowly progressed … about two weeks later she began to walk. She limped around the yard, feeling the cool dirt under her feet. Now not only can she walk … she can run! She has grown to be beautiful again. She is my beloved friend, and now she has “hope” for a better and brighter tomorrow!

Written by Tatiana Del Toro, a student at the University of La Verne

There is a misconception that life without the consumption of meat is impossible. Even in college, while students are being educated and exposed to alternative lifestyles, some closed-minded individuals see vegetarianism/veganism as a humorous topic. That’s why having a PETA booth at the University of La Verne’s “Recycling Fair” was not only imperative to the vegetarian/vegan cause, but it was a way to expose students and administration that partaking in the consumption of meat is not green.

We have had PETA booths before, but including the “Meat’s Not Green” campaign shed a new light on the issues to our peers and faculty. Sure, using recycling bags, and conserving energy and water are all great, but even though raising animals for food contributes a large share to global warming, many green goers tend to ignore this fact. Having the “Meat’s Not Green” brochures, stickers, and buttons brought awareness to the students and faculty of La Verne.

Written by Theresa Morini, president of Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (SETA) at UNC - Wilmington

The idea for the cruelty-free fashion show was brought up in SETA’s UNCW chapter meeting while discussing peta2’s “Whose Skin Are You In?” campaign. Rather than leafleting and petitioning like we have done in the past, we thought this would be a fun way to educate people on clothing alternatives. I e-mailed each company from PETA’s list of vegan companies to see if they would be willing to donate any articles of clothing. We were amazed to find how many companies were so generous and willing to help. Cow Jones Industrials, Ideal North, Kitty Gallery, Mink Shoes, neverleatherland, and Vegan Queen all contributed to our fashion show. Their pieces were auctioned off after the show in a silent auction and SETA’s proceeds went to the local Humane Society.

Speaking with students after the show, I found that many of them had initially come just to see a fashion show and had been oblivious to the facts and what has actually been happening in the industry. They enjoyed the show and were glad that we brought this to their attention. Many people were surprised to find how realistic the faux products were and how fashionable cruelty-free clothing can be.