Marketing Students to Host Second Annual Community Event to ‘Shine Out Sex Trafficking’

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MACON – Traffick Jam, a team of Mercer University marketing students whose mission is to bring an end to sex trafficking in Middle Georgia, will host its second annual community event to “Shine Out Sex Trafficking” on March 31, 6-8 p.m., in Tattnall Square Park. 

The goal of this event, which is free and open to the public, is to educate community members on how to get involved in the local effort to end to this modern form of slavery that affects millions globally.

Jeff Shaw, founder and president of Atlanta-based anti-trafficking ministry Out of Darkness, will serve as the event's keynote speaker. Out of Darkness has rescued 600 women from Georgia streets and jails and placed them into long-term care. The organization has a chapter in Middle Georgia that has rescued 30 women in the past year.

Additionally, representatives from other Middle Georgia anti-trafficking organizations, such as MG Alert, the International Justice Mission and Civil Lawyers Against World Slavery (CLAWS), will be present.

Members of Point B.L.A.N.K., Mercer's first-ever spoken word collective, and vocalist Lauren Tuttle will perform, and local vendors will provide free food.

At the end of the event, sparklers will be handed out to encourage community members to go “Shine Out Sex Trafficking.”

Traffick Jam, a self-sustaining organization of marketing students within Mercer's Stetson School of Business and Economics, was founded three years ago under the direction of Dr. Tammy Crutchfield, professor of marketing. The organization seeks to educate and empower Macon's teens to protect themselves, their friends and their community from sex trafficking.

Traffick Jam's work is funded by creating and selling objects of value and hosting events that resonate with others who are passionate about bringing an end to sex trafficking.

Last year, Traffick Jam served 150 children, and this year, the organization is on track to serve more than 400 by presenting its unique curriculum in local schools and after-school programs.

For more information, contact Dr. Crutchfield at (478) 396-7405 or crutchfie_tn@mercer.edu.

About the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics

Established in 1984, Mercer University's Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics is named for Eugene W. Stetson, a 1901 Mercer graduate and business pioneer who helped negotiate the first major leveraged buyout in corporate history. Over the past 80 years, Mercer has granted over 12,000 business degrees, and many of its graduates hold senior leadership positions in companies around the world. Mercer's business school delivers career-focused business education programs and develops entrepreneurial leaders and responsible global citizens. It holds accreditation from the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which places it among the top five percent of all top business schools worldwide. Mercer's business school has been recognized by the Princeton Review for “Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students” and “Greatest Opportunity for Women” as well as being one of its “Best Business Schools.” In addition, it has been recognized among the “Top 15 Schools in the Nation for Marketing and Accounting.”

The School offers the following programs: Atlanta (Evening BBA, Full-Time (One-Year) MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA, Professional MBA, Master of Accountancy, M.S. in Business Analytics), Macon (Traditional BBA and Evening MBA), Douglas County and Henry County (Evening BBA). www.mercer.edu/business