As November draws to an end, posts have popped up on social media advertising for something called “Dressember.” Those who have been at Calvin in December before — or whose high school hosted a similar event — might remember seeing students dressed up all month. But the event isn’t just a December trend: it’s intended to draw awareness to human trafficking.
This December — and every December — Calvin students, along with many other people across the country, commit to wearing a dress or a suit every day in order to raise money through fundraising and to advocate awareness about modern day slavery in the community.
The challenge is hosted by International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM is a global Christian organization that works to eradicate modern human slavery, trafficking, and poverty by addressing the root causes of the issues. Mainly, IJM works to “strengthen justice systems,” “rescue and restore victims,” “bring criminals to justice” and “scale demand for protection” according to IJM’s website.
The money raised through Dressember then goes directly to IJM’s efforts toward bringing liberation of victims and conversion of justice systems worldwide.
IJM at Calvin
Calvin’s relationship with IJM has formed mostly over law student internships at the organization. Following these internships, interest in starting a chapter at Calvin grew, and today it is a fully-fledged student organization.
However, IJM has not had a consistent chapter at Calvin over the years. Junior co-presidents Meg Pheifer and Jenna King hope to change this for the better. In bringing back the organization, “we sort of had to build from the ground up. [We] pulled together a really awesome leadership team, [and] we’re trying to put infrastructures in place this year to keep it going and have it last beyond us,” explained Pheifer.
King hopes to keep this organization going through “connect[ing] students with other students, other organizations within Calvin and organizations outside of Calvin” in order to build a lasting ripple of support that will “acknowledge the hurt and need that’s both in our community and outside of our community.”
When building an organization from the ground up, it can be easy to become discouraged. In order to avoid this, Pheifer tries to keep in mind why this work matters. “I think that it’s kind of this posture of humility and not letting my own personal need to feel good about myself or need to succeed in the eyes of my fellow Calvin students get in the way of realizing the issue is what I’m passionate about and what I want to join in with. . . I hope for myself that I will continue to be a conduit for how the Holy Spirit is going to work through IJM.”
Efforts at Calvin
IJM’s chapter at Calvin serves their role through three main goals, according to Pheifer: “to advocate, fundraise, and pray.” There is a hope that the campus community will “realize that this is not just a practical earthly battle, but this is also a spiritual battle,” said Pheifer.
The chapter also helps to promote the Dressember challenge to students at Calvin. As it may not be practical for everyone to dress up for the entire month of December, Pheifer and King have worked to set up a campaign called “Dressember for a Day.” The purpose of this campaign is to “provide a day where we can encourage people to dress up for that specific day, whether or not they are able to do the rest of the challenge,” explained King.
Dec. 10—Human Rights Day—will be when students can participate in “Dressember for a Day.” “The idea behind the campaign is that it will be a “ripple effect” across campus, said Pheifer. If one student is dressed up in class and they are asked why, a simple conversation may spark about IJM’s efforts for liberation. Even such a small conversation is an opportunity to advocate, and potentially an opportunity to change lives.
Students may dress up on Dec. 10 or bring donations to the IJM table in the library and can receive a baked good in return. Pheifer and King also will be hosting a thrifting event for students to purchase clothes for December in order to improve accessibility for completing the challenge.
Getting Connected
Students who would like to be involved in the work of IJM are encouraged to follow @ijmcalvin on Instagram and to join the IJM mailing list.
For students who are not able to participate in IJM events, the hope of the program is that being aware of the organization and being educated about their efforts in the fight against modern slavery can go a long way. “This is stuff that is going to affect the rest of each of our own lives and the lives of thousands of people around the world,” said King.
