Senior Spotlight: Michal Kabatznik ’07
By Michael Levine
The responsibility of advocacy represents the core of a recent interview that reporter Michael Levine ’09 conducted with Michal Kabatznik ’07, a government and politics major, international development and conflict management minor.
Q: What inspired your plight for social justice?
A: I was eight years old when I attended my first rally. It was cool to see grown-ups in work clothes being passionate. I was raised in a family that encouraged community service. I was taught that actions benefit those less fortunate and that social justice is a way to give back. We have a responsibility to help.
Q: How do you choose which causes deserve the most attention?
A: That’s a hard one. After I wrote a paper on issues developing in the Third World, I became motivated by children’s experiences in these countries.
Q: What did you find most compelling about these experiences?
A: I want to understand why children become social casualties. They are the secondary victims. In some cases, their parents have AIDS, and so the children contract it in utero. Children are left behind in the wake of war, poverty, disease and catastrophe.
Q: Who are your role models?
A: Advocates for the environment and those who give of themselves, not just checks, like Peace Corps volunteers. And Nelson Mandela. I am reading Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. He was a pioneer of social change. It’s kind of heavy.
Q: What do you do outside of class?
A: I work for Greenpeace. Initially, I only knew about it on a general level. Once I began working there, I found that all of Greenpeace employees—from the executives of the activism world to the faces of the media component to the stockroom employees—were passionate about working there. Greenpeace also seemed to maintain a good balance among activism, public relations and lobbying.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: I want to travel and explore. I am concerned about the global situation. It’s up to us to transcend our local involvement in organizations and advocacy groups, to a global scale. Ultimately, I aspire for a profession in conflict resolution, international development, and humanitarian relief.
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