When most people think about activists, the images that seem to come to mind are of Martin Luther King Jr., hippies and women who burn their bras. Whatever the image, I doubt many people picture students. No, I’m not talking about students like the ones we saw during the anti-Vietnam War movement of the 1960s (although that certainly is one type of student activist).
Instead, I’m talking about students like you and me. The people you pass on the campus, eat with at the dining hall or sit next to in lecture halls. Many people in this world will tell you that there is no place for student activists. They will tell you that no matter how hard you try to create social change, it won’t make a difference. This notion of inaptitude has even made students themselves believe they are incapable of changing the world. I often hear students say, “Why does it matter if I sign your petition?” or “I can lobby my legislator all I want, but it’s not going to do anything.”
Well I’m here to challenge you and argue that it does matter and that it will do something — just pay attention to what’s going on in Egypt! I have seen incredible growth in activism at this university in the past few years. On Wednesday, 127 people attended MaryPIRG’s kickoff meeting. This semester, MaryPIRG will be working to make our campus and state more sustainable, fight hunger and homelessness and make higher education more affordable.
Students seem to be showing just as much interest in activism in various other groups at the university. For example, The Love Movement has more than 1,500 fans on Facebook, groups such as Community Roots are always hosting events geared toward social change. Students also organized and joined forces to create an organization for Haiti earthquake-relief efforts. We have academic and community service programs such as Civicus, Beyond the Classroom and Alternative Breaks encouraging students to get involved in their communities. We also have a class called SOCY 432: Social Movements, in which students learn about theoretical models of the creation of social movements and study specific movements for their effectiveness.
Sure, people may tell you that no matter how hard you try to make a difference, no one will listen.
But I’m here to tell you to take advantage of all of these groups and programs or even having Washington in your backyard. Because even if people tell you you’re crazy for caring so much, you’ll never know whether you can actually make a difference until you work hard for something you care about. So who cares if the rest of the world thinks we’re crazy for trying so hard?
Let’s take advantage of these awesome opportunities we have available to us, and that’s not to mention, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are usually the ones who do.”
Krystala Skordalos is a junior sociology major. She can be reached at kskordal at umd dot edu
