While Darth Vader was not present, Associate Professor of Philosophy Matt Bonzo and Professor of English Michael Stevens both attended International Justice Mission’s seminar on March 24 titled “The Empire Strikes Back.”

The meeting took place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and involved both Bonzo and Stevens voicing their opinions on different topics involving government misconduct. Students also had the chance to actively participate in the discussion, and many did.

Planning for the event began when IJM was looking for a March event that would go along with the theme of the month. The CU branch of the organization looks to the main branch in Washington, D.C., for ideas, and the theme for March happened to be government misconduct.

“The point came up that it would be good to remind ourselves that we often draw attention to injustice in other countries, but that injustice needs to be talked about in the US as well,” said CU sophomore and philosophy major Kristine Swaney. Swaney is the marketing director of CU’s chapter of IJM.

Swaney also noted that IJM’s adviser, Gerald Longjohn, was very involved with the planning as well.

Bonzo and Stevens were hand-selected as the event speakers for reasons both personal and practical.

“I have been in more of Dr. Bonzo’s philosophy courses this past year, and justice is a topic that he has put a lot of his personal time into studying and working for,” Swaney said. “I also have my first class with Dr. Stevens this semester and have had a glimpse of the friendship that the two of them share. They really work off each other’s knowledge and respect the other’s differences.”

Bonzo began the event by addressing the fact that he felt the government and economy have seemed to merge together in some type of twisted co-dependency over the last few years.

“We’ve come to a certain state of being where our government and market are so abstract, they’ve merged together. Now they rely on one another to take care of each other,” he said.

Bonzo also addressed the fact that today’s federal government seems to serve many corporations and businesses.

In order to truly tackle such issues, Bonzo and Stevens touched on two main themes, community with fellow citizens and the localization of government and economy.

“You conserve and preserve, you approach life with a certain dignity. You help your neighbors and save up your assets,” Stevens said. “Eventually, this becomes just a part of being human for you.”

Stevens stressed the fact that people today are “treated as commodities,” especially when in need of financial assistance.

“I remember taking my food stamps into the grocery store as a kid and being absolutely humiliated to present them at the register. They stood out so clearly to everyone else shopping,” Stevens said. “We need to find ways of helping people that can keep their dignity intact.”

Bonzo and Stevens kept up a playful banter with one another for the majority of the evening, expressing their views and conversing with inquisitive students. About 30 students participated in the event. Some found it helpful, while others found it a little vaguer.

“I thought it was extremely interesting, but I also felt that it was a little general, too,” said sophomore Bethany Parsell.

Overall, the event presented an opportunity for students and faculty to come together and discuss the current state of their government and economy. IJM leaders seemed impressed with the turnout of the event as well.

“I want to offer IJM’s gratitude to both professors who volunteered their time to talk at the forum along with our excitement to have had their support,” Swaney said. “That’s what’s really great about some of the professors here. They are so willing to offer their time and knowledge to not just lecture the material, but go further and apply themselves to answering the questions of their students in various topics of curiosity.”