Student activism is making a comeback. Within the past few years, Capital has seen many rallies, marches, and petitions in pursuit of exposing the truth and supporting a cause.
Many different organizations on campus have recently used activism to promote their beliefs and share ideas with the student body and faculty.
Nathaniel Carr, president of the Ebony Brotherhood Association (EBA), said that his organization uses activism “…as a means to respond if things fall through.”
Carr supports the use of peripheral activism, which means being active without some sort of rally. Carr said that “we only want to use full-on activism if our voices aren’t heard.”
EBA’s mission statement is “[To] increase the image of black men on campus by means of social, cultural, academic, and community oriented programs.”
The organization currently has around 13 active members, all of who are black men. Carr also said that when it comes to being a part of this organization, “you don’t have to be a brotha to be a brother.”
Comments like these are what make student activism so important. There are passionate, driven students on campus who are ready to make a change and want as many people as possible to come along on the journey with them.
Another group that focuses on spreading the word and creating a discussion is the Socialist Student Union (SSU).
SSU is fairly new and was founded by seniors Nick Bochenek and Arielle Johnson, longtime friends who share similar political views.
The organization is a collection of student whose political views are further left than a liberal or democrat.
Recently, there has been a large push regarding the expansion of socialist thought due to the popularity of 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
In promoting activism, the Socialist Student Union is hoping to hold a public forum along with the Campus Democrats to discuss Sanders. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback, and even criticize some of Sanders’s policies and ideas.
The organization’s first public event occurred last semester in conjunction with the other three political organizations on campus. The event was held by the Women’s Empowerment Alliance. All four political groups were invited to speak about certain topics that were being raised about their chosen parties and speakers were able to provide some clarity for those in attendance.
Co-founder Nick Bochenek stated that while the organization is still very young, “we’re pretty proud of what we’ve gotten done so far and we’re really optimistic looking forward.”
In an attempt to begin promoting activism, the group has reached out to some socialist groups around Columbus. This outreach has provided a larger outlet for activism not only on campus, but also all around the city.
In accordance to promoting student activism, Bochenek said that SSU has many plans for the future.
“We want to pick an issue every month [and discuss it]. There are things we want to do with the Black Lives Matter movement, [things related to] John Kasich pulling funding from Planned Parenthood, [and] things about liberty and rights and freedom.”
The goal is to have a public forum type set-up, and SSU will be partnered with another organization on campus. Students will be welcomed to come and discuss their thoughts and ideas and maybe see that “socialism has an answer to a lot of problems,” as Bochenek said.
Last semester, the sexual misconduct policy was under scrutiny. Students who were interested in challenging the policy hosted a protest in front of Yochum Hall.
Rachel Arnold, senior psychology major, was one of the students who helped organize the protest.
“It’s clear we ruffled some feathers with our protest,” Arnold said.
Unfortunately, the policy cannot be changed after a single protest, but the ball has started rolling.
“It’s hard to know what exactly will come from it right now as we’ll have to see if the administration is willing to make any changes, but the administration being willing to sit down with us and recognize these problems is a big step in the right direction,” Arnold said.
Student activism is creating a ripple effect on campus. Hopefully with the amount of great organizations fighting for the little guy, campus can one day see real change.
