We are a social justice group based in Cleveland, Ohio, that is dedicated to raising awareness of social issues that concern our world today. We meet every Wednesday night at 9 PM in Thwing Spartan Room, located on the campus of Case Western Reserve University.

We are a group of students from Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cleveland Institute of Music who are interested in social justice. The mission of the group and its members it to encourage debate, activism, and participation in critical thought on issues of social inequality facing members of our campus communities and the community at large.

Another aspect of Catalyst is direct action. The main goal of direct actions is to raise the community’s awareness of an issue in hopes of sparking interest in an apathetic heart. We hope to compel others to take a stance against injustice. While our direct action is educational in nature, it shows our passion about an issue and takes it out of a classroom setting and into the community. Direct action takes many forms, often as a rally or protest. Armed with nothing more than our conviction, a few signs and our voices we take to the streets to show the community that we are not blind to the reality of politics, money and justice.

At the center of Catalyst is the concept of justice and the conviction to raise our voices in its name. We create dialogue to find out more about controversial topics, we hold rallies to support our brothers and sisters who uphold justice and we protest injustice when we see it. We take up our role in the global city and raise up our voices until they are heard and justice served.

Past Activities and Accomplishments

2003-2004 School Year
• Marriage: One Man, One Woman? tackled the issue of same-sex marriage, with professors Emery Lee, Laura Hengehold, and Renee Sentilles sharing their views at this well-attended forum.
• Sweatshop on the Oval featured Case students pretending they were working in a sweatshop on the KSL Oval, receiving brutal treatment and little to no pay, to demonstrate what real workers of textile shops of companies such as Gap and Old Navy must experience every single day.
• What if You Were Muslim, cosponsored with the Case Muslim Student Association, gave students a view of the hate and discrimination Muslims have experienced since 9/11.
• Prospects for Peace: The FTAA and Miami exposed students to the horrors of the FTAA as well as the police brutality that took place during an anti-FTAA protest last November.
• Stop Killer Coke, co-sponsored with the Fair Trade Task Force, gave students an eye-opening glimpse into Coca-Cola's despicable labor practices, with Luis Adolfo Cardona, a former worker for one of Coca-Cola's Colombian bottling plants, giving a terrifying firsthand account of his escape and of his fellow co-workers being tortured and killed by paramilitaries employed by Coca-Cola to stop union activity.
• The second Live Homosexual Acts aimed to shatter stereotypes of typical homosexual activities.
• What's All This Transgender Business Anyway provided general information of what it exactly means to be transgendered.
• How to Properly Practice Safer Sex featured live demonstrations on various methods of how to avoid getting STDs during sexual relations.
• Participated in a year-long campaign to obtain better health care for our workers.

2002-2003 School Year
• In conjunction with local Cleveland groups such as Not in Our Name, we helped organize massive protests against the war in Iraq both on campus and in greater Cleveland.
• Successfully lobbied the administration to raise the wages for most of the food service workers on campus, after staging numerous boycotts of campus cafeterias.
• Held the First Annual Case Western Reserve University Drag Pageant.
• Signs for Peace - Over 90 Case students gathered on Freiberger Field to form a huge peace sign.

2001-2002 School Year
• Worked for the passage of resolutions by the Faculty Senate and the USG in support of a Card Check Neutrality (CCN) agreement.
• Collected 739 student signatures in support of a CCN agreement.