The future of Student Activism

The challenge for 21st century student activists is to define their role in a time of peace and prosperity. Although it may be difficult for activists to energize students when there is no national crisis, our generation is not apathetic. And activists must learn to define themselves without reference to the 1960s and embrace the effects of modern technology on student activism.

At the founding conference of the Student Alliance to Reform Corporations (STARC), "one of the largest activist organizations in the United States," students railed against 'The Man' and 'The System,' using the lingo of the 1960s. A "conference speaker and veteran 60s activist" felt compelled to remind students that 'The System' is not entirely bad. More importantly, as the private sector gains increasing power, activists who attack corporations but do not try to work with them will quickly make themselves obsolete.

Constant comparison with the activism of the 1960s is also unproductive and aggravates an inferiority complex in many students about their own efforts at campus mobilization. Our generation does not face the kinds of challenges that earlier generations faced.

Students don't have to protest against something or join a political campaign to become involved in their society. And if we continue to view the 1960s as the model of student activism, we may ignore a newer and different kind of student activism.

Traditional forms of student activism, such as political involvement and protests, can be effective. In the recent election year, Princeton students volunteered for local and national candidates, and the Princeton College Democrats helped tip the local congressional election for Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ). On campus, the room where the Workers Rights Organizing Committee (WROC) recently met could barely hold all the students who came to the event.

But students are becoming increasingly involved in other forms of activism than political participation and protest movements. For a generation that has few national leaders and little experience with national adversity, we are deeply involved in our communities. Student participation in community service programs and interest in careers as teachers have grown in record numbers. Activism is increasingly taking different forms, and we must not mistake a low rate of voter turnout for a decline in social involvement. Our generation displays a social awareness and commitment to community service that should quiet those who bemoan a decline in student activism.

Our generation is not apathetic, but it has the option not to engage, as other generations have not had. Political scandals like Watergate, Impeachment and abuses of campaign finance laws have discouraged many students from political involvement. But we are the keepers of a tradition of activism. And the legacy of the civil rights, feminist, environmental and free speech movements has instilled in us a commitment to individual and community rights: many students who are not involved in community service programs nevertheless have a strong sense of social injustice and human rights.

Activists should not be discouraged that many recent graduates have entered business rather than public service. The economy of the Clinton years was the strongest in decades, and it is unfair to criticize a generation for taking advantage of it.

More importantly, while e-mail has enabled activists to organize more easily, the Internet has made us more aware of more issues than ever before. Knowledge and ignorance about world issues are choices for those with access to the Internet. The Information Age forces us to perform 'issue triage' and to decide which problems to address, much like emergency medical professionals decide which patients to treat based on the severity of the injuries. With so much access to so much information about so many different issues, there is always opportunity for activism. And activists have a responsibility not just to advocate, but to educate.

The 21st century activist should prepare students to perform 'issue triage' by helping them understand the forces shaping our world: globalization, global population growth, the "digital divide" and increasing income inequality. Once students have the relevant knowledge, each can use the Internet to find his own cause to advance. The Princeton College Democrats has begun organizing a voter education program in order to help student voters understand today's most important issues.

If America enters a recession in the next few months, campus radicalism may gain ground, and college seniors may enter the public sphere in greater numbers. Campus leaders should know how to prepare students for activism in The Information Age. Adam Frankel is from New York. He can be reached at afrankel@princeton.edu.