Actress Mia Kirshner smiled in her seat while students unknowingly scooted by and sat down around her on the second floor of the Memorial Union.
However, this star from Not Another Teen Movie didn't come to gossip about Hollywood to a crowd of about 100 ASU students Tuesday night. With her personal experiences in mind, she came to motivate students to help fight human rights violations in Chechnya.
In an event sponsored by Amnesty International and the ASU University Career Women, the actress showed personal video accounts of her experience in Chechnya and the plight of its people.
Amnesty International is a worldwide organization that works independently of all governments and politics to promote and defend human rights. The UCW is an organization that gives women at ASU the opportunity to speak about issues and improve their societal standing.
Kirshner also read letters she received from suffering Chechen children.
"War is a scary word that can only be understood by those who bear it on their shoulders," Kirshner read aloud.
The Russian Federation has been battling Chechen fighters since 1996, causing destruction and thousands of deaths to the battle-scarred country.
"She has personal testimonies that aren't politically motivated," said Christina Lindstrom, membership program coordinator for Amnesty International's Western region. "What you see on TV has an emotional void."
Lynette Summerill, a UCW board member, said it's important to see how the same human rights issues we have in America are affecting other nations.
"By learning about human rights abuses in other countries, we can avoid their pitfalls," Summerill said.
Diane Post of the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence also spoke about her experience as an attorney in Russia, where there was only one law book available. Post made copies to distribute to the community. Each copy cost only 50 cents.
"How can you expect your human rights if you don't even know what they are?" Post said.
Kirshner has been working with Amnesty International for the past year and is also promoting her new photographic book, I Live Here, which illustrates troubled women and children all over the world. She can be seen on the TV series 24.
Reach the reporter at benjamin.honingford@asu.edu.
