Who wants Northeastern to join the ranks of Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Cornell, UPenn, Columbia and dozens of other prestigious universities across the country? I do. But I’m not talking about the U.S. News and World Report rankings. I’m talking about joining these institutions, which have all divested from Sudan in the fight against the genocide in Darfur.

One child, woman or man is murdered every five minutes in Darfur and, perhaps thanks to the efforts of a strong student movement, maybe you know something about it. Last month, The News reported on Northeastern’s chapter of STAND – A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition (“New student group rises awareness of Darfur, genocide,” April 11) and the petition we started at www.nustand.org to get Northeastern’s funds out of Sudan – but I’m not sure our community really got the message. By taking less than two minutes out of your day to sign the petition, you can make sure our university knows you won’t stand for genocide.

Recognizing our part in this situation is a vital step in the work to stop this genocide now and to prevent genocides in the future. Northeastern needs to provide a guarantee to our community that we have divested from any companies that support the genocide. Twenty years ago, the student movement led hundreds of universities, including Northeastern, to divest from South Africa during its apartheid.

Sudan has been largely unresponsive to diplomatic pressures, but has consistently caved into economic sanctions. Divestment may be our only viable answer to help the people of Darfur.

We often look toward the Ivy League as a model for educational leadership and excellence. I hope we can use this opportunity to show the world that Northeastern ranks with the best when it comes to what really matters.

– Armin