Bruce Carlini pushes people to get involved
When he came to Concordia, Bruce Carlini knew he wanted more than to sit around indifferently in a world beset by injustice.
His involvement in social action at Concordia has been recognized by Forces AVENIR, a Quebec organization that recognizes young people for projects that contribute to collective rights.
Carlini created STAND Concordia to draw awareness to the crisis in Darfur. He also served as co-director of Action Sida and co-president of the Concordia branch of Amnesty International.
He gets satisfaction from pushing people of all ages to learn, and encouraging them to be more proactive.
“There’s nothing better than talking to little kids and telling them how easy it is to go out and do something,” he said. “Everyone has a certain potential, and the biggest shame is not even trying to use that potential.”
At Concordia, he earned degrees in history and political science. Now he is studying in international law at McGill, and has joined the Canadian Council for Refugees, a lobby group for refugees and immigrants.
Concordia selected him to compete in the “personality” category of the annual awards, where he was named a finalist. Three of nine finalists will win grants, but each finalist will take home $2,000. The winners of Forces AVENIR will be announced Sept. 28 at a gala in Quebec City.