The Fall 2025 cohort of the Peace Action Fund of New York State Campus Organizing Program carried out a number of important initiatives on their campuses, spreading awareness about ongoing peace and justice issues. This semester, our 12 chapters continued focusing on the genocide in Gaza, the mass deportations of undocumented people and ICE presence in their own communities, the cutting of SNAP benefits during the nation’s longest government shutdown, nuclear weapons and the expiration of New START in 2026, and more. Each chapter developed their own innovative ways of educating their peers on these issues and providing opportunities to participate in acts of resistance. 

In early August 2025, I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Peace Action New York State in Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the 80th anniversary commemoration of the atomic bombings and to attend the World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. 

I was invited by Shinfujin (The New Japan Women’s Association) to attend the No Nukes! Women’s Forum, and by Gensuikyo to share my perspectives as a student organizer in the United States. As an international student from Georgia, I was able not only to represent my experiences in the U.S. but also to share insights from my home country — something that meant the world to me. I spoke about the challenges faced by student organizers, especially international students, who are often targeted for their activism on campus. 

On November 14th and 15th, Emily Rubino, Executive Director, and Margaret Engel, Student and Campaigns Coordinator, embarked on the second leg of the PAFNYS annual Upstate Campus Tour, where they visited student and community chapters across New York. Earlier in the semester, they visited five student chapters and a number of community chapters in Central and Western New York; you can read more about the first leg of the tour in their blogpost.