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Student voice, it's important! |
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Posted 3/5/2010 at 10:42 AM by Jasmin M |
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So I’m from the east coast. I went to a small liberal arts college founded in 1742 (7th oldest college in the nation), with a largely homogeneous population that cost me entirely too much money, but I got a decent scholarship, so I convinced myself that I could afford to go there. Yes, I am a cliche, but I love my alma mater, Moravian College, despite its numerous faults.
I’ve also been following some recent events at my old college. In February, the administration announced that the college would eliminate off campus releases. Commuters will be mandated to purchase a meal plan. They have also dropped the NCAA Division 3 men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. This all comes at a time when the Princeton Review ranked Moravian College as one of the most politically apathetic campuses in the country.
This apparent apathy might be starting to change, though. Students at Moravian are pissed. And what they’re most upset about is that all of these changes occurred without their input. United Student Government (USG), has been holding open forums and meetings to look for solutions. I keep hearing the promising words Students for a Democratic Society. Students have been demanding that their voices be heard. And seriously, it breaks my heart every day that I’m stuck in Missouri and not there with them in solidarity. I couldn’t have become more proud of the Moravian student population.
Because we are, or maybe were, an extremely apathetic campus. Even I can be blamed for apathy during my freshman and sophomore year. It took until halfway through my sophomore year and some pushing from older students and faculty to even start to become outspoken, and I really didn’t hit my zenith of activism until senior year. I tried to push the students through the editorial section of the college newspaper to join me in shouting out their informed opinions, but I’m afraid now that maybe I didn’t do enough.
I’ve known that Moravian was eventually going to eliminate off campus releases from my days covering the construction of the new residential building (which destroyed historical artifacts in its construction). That they’re finally gone is not news. So why didn’t I push this issue more? Why didn’t I fully develop investigative reporting like I wanted to? Why didn’t I push myself and others harder? But I was just a budding activist myself.
This is why I think the student voice component of PeaceJam is so important. Had I been involved in something like this in high school, I could have entered college with the tools I needed to be outspoken from day one. I could have worked harder while I was still in college to promote student voice.
But I am proud of everything that is happening on my campus right now. And I’ll continue to support them through our progressive alumni network. Because at a liberal arts college, we have to stop just talking about equality and actually practice it. |
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