TCU’s student government (SGA) will send executive members of TCU’s International Justice Mission (IJM) to a conference in Washington, D.C. next month to discuss leadership development and strategies.

Gabby Douthitt, a member of SGA’s finance committee and a sophomore writing and communication studies double major, said SGA passed the bill with 54% approval to fund TCU IJM’s travel expenses to the conference. 

SGA decided IJM was worthy of funding because of its far-reaching influence on the TCU campus, Douthitt said.

“They deserve to get funded because our purpose as SGA is to enable organizations and students to fulfill their purpose and the things they’re passionate about,” Douthitt said. 

IJM is the largest anti-human trafficking organization in the world and works to raise awareness about modern-day slavery through education and advocacy.

The executive leadership of TCU’s chapter of the organization, which seeks to end slavery, will attend the Northstar Leadership Conference Oct. 18-20 along with students from about 90 other universities to strategize campus movements to end the practice of slavery. 

The Northstar Leadership Conference is an annual gathering IJM organizes for its college chapters to unite and equip leaders to bring more students into the movement, according Jeanne Marie King, a junior early childhood education major and the vice president of advocacy for TCU IJM. 

King said last year the conference was in Dallas. She said the stories told by different speakers impacted her greatly.

“It’s easy to look at trafficking in big statistics, but they really do a great job of connecting those numbers to individual lives,” King said.

For more information on TCU IJM, visit the organization’s Facebook page.