Campus-Based Student Organizing in Contemporary Time - Essay Example

Due: Just like any other group of people with a common goal and a common set of rules governing their behavior, even students too fit in this class of people. As people with needs that should be met, students can come together to ensure that such needs are addressed. The only best way to deal with this is when they come together as people with a common objective and needs to be addressed. They have to form an organization that shall put forward such needs and challenges to their lecturers and administrators on various issues. The desire to be heard and their issues to be addressed more promptly and in a better way than casually, students all over the world in different schools, colleges and campuses through the help of the institutions’ administrations came up with a way of linking up with students in a way that the issues of the students could be represented by a section of the students’ body and not each student addressing their own problems. In modern times, growth of these student organizations have expanded to regional, national and even international levels depending on the issues these students intend to address or the goals they hope to attain at the end of the day. New methods of running these organizations, terms and rules of engagement have so far grown and this has seen proper development and definition of their functions and how they ought to represent the students. This student organizing has had influence even on the political scenes of various countries. They have lobbied to be heard on political grounds especially in cases of a government that does not have proper policies to address issues the students feel should be addressed. “When students understand who makes decisions, they begin to understand how, where, when, and why decisions are made the way they are. This allows them to influence decision-making, guide decision-makers, and participate as substantive decision-makers in their own rite. Participating in decision-making can increase every student’s feelings of ownership in learning and leading schools.” Adam Fletcher, Robert Miller, Scott Le Duc, and David Lantz As the Graduate Student Organizing Committee declares the purpose for their unity when they say “Were building our Union because graduate employees at NYU deserve a real say in the conditions of our work. From wages, to benefits, to working conditions like health and safety in university labs, we think we can do better, and we know we deserve an equal seat at the table when these matters are decided”, it is quite clear that some of these student organizing groups are formed with graduate students or non-students so as to address issues that crop out after campus such as unemployment, wages as well as working conditions that concern them. The importance of national politics and culture in the way they affect politics in our schools cannot be overlooked as expressed by the statement below: “From their kindergarten days making Thanksgiving decorations through high school civics and college political science courses, most American students acquire important political values from the educational system: patriotism, the importance of voting, and the value of constitutional rights, for example. In communist nations such as Cuba, schools have been an important agent for socializing youth into the values of Marxism- Leninism. And in Afghanistan and Pakistan, many young boys have been enrolled in fundamentalist madrassas, or religious schools, some of which promote a militant brand of Islam.” (Ethridge M. E., Handelman H.) Most students have borrowed a lot from the national politics reigning in their countries as well as the different religious cultures they profess. Modern campus-based politics has seen an immense use of technology in order to accommodate the young generation of voters and leaders alike. Modern methods that have largely been employed include “the Web, text messages, podcasts, and the like.” (Ethridge M. E., Handelman H.) What Is Student Organizing? Student organizing can be referred to the coming together of a student based organization in colleges and university campuses to represent the students in addressing the issues that students face. These organizations are led by the students themselves and always are a link between the college administrations and their students. These organizations are led by students who are elected by the students themselves. These student representatives are commonly referred to as student-leaders. They have to be elected through a rigorous process which involves the students themselves setting up an electoral body that will ensure that the leaders are elected through a process that will satisfy all the contestants as well as the voters themselves. Membership to such student organizations is composed exclusively of students who are registered by the universities. The students pay a registration fee to the university that allows them legitimacy of membership to the group and makes them eligible for vying for positions in the organizations. According to Angus Johnston, “American students have been organizing on a national level for more than a century, and USSA has been an important part of that organizing since the end of the Second World War—as a nascent national student union in the late forties, as a cautiously liberal group in the fifties, as an increasingly activist federation of student governments in the sixties, as a radical antiwar outfit in the early seventies, and as a broad-based progressive advocacy organization in the eighties and nineties. Today USSA remains the largest, most inclusive national student association in the United States.” Categories of Student Organizations Students come together under different circumstances and different purposes to form an organization that will represent their needs as that unique group of people. Based on this, there are several kinds of groups that students have come up with such as: 1. Subjects Students have been organizing based on the subjects they take. For example, we have Mathematics students’ organizations, Drama Students association, engineering students for sustainable development among others. The main aim of such organizing is to strengthen their positions to better their education by demanding the best and most preferred learning experiences, dedicated lecturers as well as jobs after campus. Being that these students have the same purpose for organizing themselves together, they are able to shout enough to be heard by their administrations and even the government. Sometimes when responses seem not to come, the students organize strike that will paralyze the operations of their college administration until their demands are heard and addressed. There have been cases of strike in universities and colleges the world over. Much of these can directly be attributed to such student organizations. 2. Sports Not only do students come together when they wish to address matters concerning their education but also when they feel something needs to be done as far as their different sporting talents are concerned. Under this, there exist Student football associations, student rugby unions, and students’ hockey association among others. In this case, students fight for better sporting facilities, better training facilities, administration’s recognition and support to the various sports they have as well as facilitating some of the sporting events the students might have. This organizing has led to a great deal of improvement of sports in colleges and universities. This organizing has seen better performance when it comes to sports. Many students now have the chance to exercise profitably their sporting skills and talents and to take them to greater heights due to availability of facilities and improved conditions for campus sports people. 3. Disability Disability is an issue that affects its victims negatively to greater levels the world over. Many individuals have developed low self esteem based on their mindset about themselves. The moment they start thinking that they are treated the way it is done is because of the disability they have. This has led to many negative results such as underperformance, loneness as well as a lot of resultant pain and bitterness. To try to contain this mindset and school of thought, many students who have suffered and seen the effect of their disability on the various aspects of their lives have come together in some form of organizing such as the disabled students association at San Francisco State University. This example is one among many where students with disability have come together to push their agenda forward i.e. “advocate for a supportive and inclusive environment for students with disabilities on our college campus.” (DSA San Francisco) This organizing as well as others like that have helped to address the underlying issues faced by students the world over who suffer from one sort of disability or the other. 4. Region of Origin Regions where students come from are also a factor that has helped bring students together in schools and colleges all over the world. Being that such students have a lot of things in common, a lot of challenges that they feel should be addressed. The best way in which such cases can be represented is when the students form a union that is strong enough and able to fight for their rights. The region could be a state in the United States, or a province or even just a continent within the globe with a common origin. In modern times, these organizations based on places of origin have led to a lot of contribution toward the development of their homeland nations or continents whichever the case may be. Students who have come together for the sake of their countries or places of origin have also influenced the political developments back in their backgrounds. They have added their voices to the cries of their own people thus ensuring that some things that have never been done are slowly considered and handled. 5. Ethnic Alienation Ethnic lines also give people an opportunity to find a reason to gather because of the feeling of commonality. The ability to speak the same language makes people have a feeling of security and belonging. Some students have chosen this point of common language and cultural beliefs to come up with such organizations that will take care of their needs as a group. In Kenya for instance, colleges are flooded with students who speak the same language such as Luo Students Associations for the Luo community in Kenya among others of the same sort. These community or language based organizing in campuses have enabled even politicians to forge their way into political gains by supporting and sponsoring the agenda of these students in exchange of the students sounding their ideas and visions. They have also spurred development and growth back in their villages by publicly pointing out the weaknesses of their leaders as well as proposing solutions to local problems. 6. Race Several years before South Africa got its independence just before 1994, the country was clearly divided into two major groups, i.e. the whites and the blacks. This era was commonly referred to as Apartheid. The whites living in South Africa were in many ways separated from their black counterparts based on the color of their skin. This distinction in terms of race was not only happening or evident in the streets but also in the schools in the country. Many black students felt discriminated against because of their color. But later on in the year 1994, the students participated fully to the idea of independence from the white rule and a lot was achieved. The students organized themselves into a group referred to as The South African Students’ Organization which was an all-black organization with a common challenge and they were able alongside other political activists to fight for independence until they were able to achieve it. This Students’ Organization later became the famous Black Peoples’ Convention that transformed into many other organizations up until the time when South Africa got independence from the White Apartheid regime. Other areas that have led to students coming together in a common purpose include Religious beliefs e.g. Muslim Students’ Association, Hindu Students’ Association and Christian Unions all over the world among other religions; College or University such as San Francisco State Students’ Association; Country such as American Student’s Organization among others. Issues Addressed By These Organizations There are several issues that have been addressed by these campus-based students’ organizing whether it is concerning their communities, religious groups, subjects or disability effects. These organizations have been fruitful and a lot of change has been witnessed as brought about by these organizing. As such the rights of the disabled have been upheld, the rights of the minority have been addressed among other issues that have been of concern to the individual groups and their specific purposes. Conclusion The benefits, diversities, and progress of these campus based student organizing are beyond measure and innumerable. It can only and easily be concluded that for the students to get their issues addressed at different levels and capacities, there need to be such organizing to ensure that there is proper and clear representation of the issues at hand. The reasons as to why these groups should and must be encouraged go beyond the way of their formation. It is important to note the importance of such groups and strategies should be developed to ensure that they also operate within the laws governing their colleges and the government policies concerning the operations and the mandates of student organizations. References Ethridge M. E., Handelman H. (Ed). Politics in a Changing World: A Comparative Introduction to Political Science, Sixth Edition DeCarmine, V. (2009). Graduate Students Still Want a Better Deal. Washington Square News. Jaschik, S. (2009). New Idea on Grad Students, Unions: Inside Higher Ed. Dervarics, C. (2008). Graduate Assistants Take Fight for Collective Bargaining to Congress Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. Jaschik, S. (2009). Return of Grad Union Movement: Inside Higher Ed., Halisi, C. R. D. (1999). Black Political Thought in the Making of South African Democracy, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Mzamane M. V., Maaba B., & Nkosinathi B., The Black Consciousness Movement: The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol 2. www.soundout.org/howdecisions.html www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/recent_news.htm www.orgsync.com/14756/chapter Read More