by Moncerat Rodriguez
Daniel Geiter is a student from Whitworth University. His passion is fighting issues of societal inequity. Until the time he started high school, Daniel’s family was low-income. Daniel, who is white, says “I did not realize how much I benefited, solely due to my skin color. I started to hear about others’ experiences and how they have been treated when I got to college.” He felt a responsibility to try to secure equal treatment for individuals and believed he was capable of helping, which brings him to PJALS.
One of the issues that Daniel is bothered by is the death penalty in the United States. He states “There is almost an insurmountable amount of data pointing to the fact that it does not lead to closure for the families affected, it is not fiscally efficient and drains public resources, it does not serve as a deterrent, and in many cases the individual is proven to be not guilty, often after the penalty has been served.”
He loves that he is able to be on the frontlines affecting change within the community and be able to directly be involved in changing issues of policy rather than just treating symptoms. Being involved with PJALS, he said, “is training me in how to do community organizing.”