Student Organizations and Activism
This page features several items created by University of Michigan students and student organizations involved in animal rights activism, as well as events bringing awareness to animal rights. The collection spans materials from student organizations including the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund(SALDF)- an organization associated with Michigan Law School which focuses on the legal aspect of animal rights, as well as the Michigan Animal Rights Society(MARS)- an interdisciplinary student organization dedicated to promoting animal rights and liveration.
We also included a thesis by Bess Rothman, a student at Michigan who proposes a new perspective on animal dead, three posters from student-led animal rights events, a video from the MARS that shows graphic footage from factory farms, a video from the MARS (featuring a debate discussing the ethics of eating meat, a video from the MARS featuring guest lecturer and animal liberation activist Peter Young, and lastly an 11 minute snippet of a video from MARS featuring guest lecturer and Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Cases, Alka Chandna. Please be advised that several of these resources depict or discuss animals being harmed and murdered by humans. We have included content warnings before these materials for your consideration, but chose to not censor these images so that the severity of animal mistreatment that these students were fighting against can be acknowledged.
The archived website from the University of Michigan Law School's Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, a organization of law students dedicated to the legal protection of animals.
A thesis by a University of Michigan student that discusses the ethical implications of the consumption of animal meat, and the philosophical aspects of our relation to dead animals.
A poster and recorded lecture pertaining to an event hosted on 03.11.2009 by the Michigan Animal Rights Society. During the lecture, prominent animal rights activist Peter Young describes his evolution into an animal-rights activists and his later prosecution for freeing animals from fur farms.
A poster, supplemental video, recording, and presentation slides from a meeting and subsequent debate hosted on 03.25.2011 by the Michigan Animal Rights Society. The event explored whether the act of eating meat and supporting the brutalities of the factory farming industry is ethical. Content warnings are included for materials that contain depictions of violence against animals.
A digital poster and 11 minute video snippet from the Michigan Animal Rights Society concerning an event on September 24th, 2009 where guest speaker and PETA's Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Cases Alka Chandna provides a critical review of animal experimentation at the University of Michigan and elsewhere. Chandna rallies for students to concern themeselves with the mistreatment of helpless animals and advocate for changes within the university's animal testing standards.