In high school, one of the great narratives of college was the expanded influence of students. So naturally, when I arrived at this university in August, I was excited to exercise my newfound student rights alongside passionate and outspoken peers. However, in the midst of adjusting to a new environment, making friends and starting college classes, I did not immediately see the abundant collegiate activism I heard about in high school. That all changed during one of the Student Government Association’s legislative meetings in October, a meeting where about 100 students from the Latino Student Union, the Asian American Student Union, Lambda Upsilon Lambda and others came out to support a bill that would officially pledge SGA support for the federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
These students expressed their opinions to their SGA representatives to persuade them to support the bill. They identified a cause that they cared about, united and put in the effort necessary to have their voice heard, and as a result, the notoriously empty Benjamin Banneker Room in Stamp Student Union — where the SGA legislature holds its weekly meetings — was packed with students. As one of the freshman legislators, I was thrilled to witness what I always expected from college. Indeed, the activist spirit, which I had previously written off as a lie, was alive in that sweaty, overcrowded room.
The real power the SGA has is always fiercely debated, but regardless of what it really is, I can tell you the SGA’s influence becomes more powerful when there is real student support behind it. The opinions the student body expresses may seem unimportant, but they actually send a strong message to our administration and to universities nationwide that the students of this university have opinions and truly care about them. This is evident in the SGA’s DREAM Act bill — the passage of which opens up more opportunities to raise awareness and support at the university for the federal bill and to encourage other leading institutions to support it.
But this is only the beginning of what students can accomplish.
Recently, the university’s chapter of the Zionist Organization of America organized a 2,000-person rally on the National Mall to raise awareness about the prolonged captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Through hard work and determination, the attendees were able to unite around a cause they truly believed in.
Ultimately, what the groups mentioned above and every other active organization at the university have proved that anyone here can say more, do more and change more. College is the time when you get to have an opinion and express it clearly and freely. Now is the most opportune time to do something about the issues you care about most, so I call on all students at this university to take advantage of this culture and fight for their beliefs.
There are multiple avenues by which students can stand up and take action, whether it be through supporting one of the many student groups at the university or some other way. Activism is one of the most important features of college, but it is best accomplished by a community.
So organize, mobilize and actualize. We may only have four years at the university, but in that short time we can truly make a difference if we come together and try.
Ira Rickman is a freshman legislator for the Student Government Association. He can be reached at irarickman at gmail dot com.
