UNL Students Deliver Presentation at Nebraska Governor's Mansion

Students in an advertising and public relations class on social justice at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln participated in a breakfast meeting on human trafficking at the governor's mansion on Feb. 23. The Nebraska Family Council, a non-profit, sponsored the event. The NFC's mission is to mobilize and educate Nebraskans about human trafficking.

The class, taught by advertising and public relations professor Sriyani Tidball, said students are learning that they, too, can really make a difference by bringing attention to the issue.

"Bringing awareness to the issue is just the beginning," Tidball said. "We need to continue to fight against human trafficking in Nebraska."

UNL students Machelle Lush, Molly Sharp, Miran Saric and Chinonyeranyi Kalu gave a multimedia presentation that illustrated the issues of human trafficking and shared one woman's story—a mother who discovered illicit pictures of her missing daughter on a classifieds website.

The Nebraska Family Council began a campaign against prostitution and human trafficking in 2003, according to executive director Al Riskowski. The Federal Bureau of Investigation helped the NFC to rescue underage child prostitutes in Omaha through the Innocence Lost program.

Lincoln police chief Tom Casady, Council Bluffs police chief Ralph O'Donnell, attorney general Jon Bruning, state senators and law enforcement officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also attended the breakfast.

Bruning ended the breakfast meeting by applauding the support and efforts made by the community and the police and encouraged everyone in the room to continue in their efforts to stop human trafficking in Nebraska.

Photo by Chinonyeranyi Kalu. The two students in the photo are Machelle Lush and Molly Sharp