Blame Game, Change and Unity

Some One made this comment on the previous post:

"I wonder though, if the acorn posted on your site like that because they just feared you because they didn't know your intentions, or if it was because this blog purported to give a voice to the many disgruntled students who feel like they don't have a voice within the acorn or the school in general. Maybe instead, the acorn just wanted to protect their position, and ultimately their power, from those very students.

I wonder, if students had an up or down vote to many of the groups and institutions on campus, to keep them or disband them, i wonder what they would do. The real problem is that they don't, and in my opinion, Drew will continue to be a somewhat repressive place for the foreseeable future. With those few who have the power and want to keep it for themselves poised against the rest of us who are pushed to the fringes of campus life.

I wonder, if students had an up or down vote to many of the groups and institutions on campus, to keep them or disband them, i wonder what they would do. The real problem is that they don't, and in my opinion, Drew will continue to be a somewhat repressive place for the foreseeable future. With those few who have the power and want to keep it for themselves poised against the rest of us who are pushed to the fringes of campus life."

I some what agree with this statement drew or any other administration run institution can be repressive but I think can it is a mistake to believe there are those who do this on purpose. The fact of the matter is that student separate into group by themselves either through mistrust, apathy, tradition or pop culture. The acorn does not censor students with malicious intent to gain more power; I believe that it is just a byproduct of one group of students trying to write and publish stories they agree with. Let them explain themselves before you blame them. The S.G.A does not want to ignore the students or repress them, the organization is restrained by the university, bureaucracy as well as student apathy. There is no reason why the University really has to listen or do anything the SGA suggests. I believe it is a mistake to blame “the man” or any organization for something that is really a problem that is created as a byproduct of fragmented youth culture. People need to stop blaming others, blame has never accomplished anything in fact it ceases progress. I believe that people need to work on changing themselves and helping others do the same instead of wasting time.

You are right we do need unity to accomplish any social change in the future. This campus has multiple groups that strive for the social change. Just look at the student group home pages and you will find these groups, Amnesty international, circle K,S.A.V, Women Concerns,GBLTQ, SDS and even the SGA all strive for social change as well a better life on campus. My recommendation is to provide a club, council or official forum that could help organize these groups so they can form one single loud voice when it is needed. My recommendation is to resurrect or create a group like the Drew Community for Social Justice. This club was based in the theological department but was disbanded in 2005 a fate that many of these clubs share. The clubs mission statement was;

We are a student-led organization dedicated to education, advocacy and action regarding issues of social justice and change.

Objectives

· To improve communication and cooperation between various justice-related student groups on campus.

· To share information with students, faculty and staff in order to increase awareness and inspire greater involvement in justice work.

· To provide access to specific tools and resources in the interest of empowering students to advocate for justice in their own contexts.

· To provide forums for dialogue in an increasingly culturally and religiously pluralistic campus and society.

· To organize opportunities for direct action and witness concerning specific issues.

· To network with other groups on local, regional, and national levels.

What I envision is that this group could gather members of the clubs I listed as well as other concerned student. The new entity could attempt to get these group as well as students to band together for a selected cause. Imagine a group that truly represents students. Through such a society this school could attempt to unify and create a voice loud enough even the administration would have to take notice. Even a direct democracy needs to be funneled through an entity to give a face to those voices, in addition those who are familiar with various social issues could facilitate. The club could offers services to help student in disciplinary actions or to get their voice heard or a multitude of other things. In addition the group could pool resources to attract speakers as well as other services. While I know there many who disagree with me on this they believe that these clubs all have specific cause and that there is no need for such a group I still believe that it is worth an attempt. I do not know the exact details of such a union I think it could be done. Many claim that this is too Utopian ideal but I think it deserves a try. If there is someone who was part of the DCSJ please contact me especially if you disagree with my assessment of the organization.

- Spooky D

(Please put any comments if you see a grammar mistake, I will try to fix it)

Come learn your rights!

Come to TOE this friday (March 22) at 4 PM to learn what you can do to defend yourself against all forms of law inforcment. Learn what to do if Public Safety shows up at your door rambling about "a strange odor." Learn how to react of police get violent. Learn how to resist with non violence. Come learn how to not get your shit taken! This is a subject everyone needs to know about!

-Outsider

Why Walk Out?

On March 20, students at over 80 high schools and universities around the United States walked out of class to protest the war in Iraq on its fourth anniversary. Included in that assemblage were 76 Drew students. As someone who attends many club-sponsored events at Drew, I can tell you that that’s a pretty good turnout on a campus often accused of being riddled with apathy. However, what I have to say is not really about student body apathy or numbers. I want to share why the walkout and the rally that followed it were invaluably important to me, to my friends, to my adversaries, to the social climate of this school, to the learning process at Drew, and to the town of Madison.

When my friend Rich sent out an e-mail to the list serve of Drew Students for a Democratic Society urging us to start organizing a walkout in solidarity with other schools across the country, I was eager to get the ball rolling. As someone who helped organize and participate in a walkout from my high school on March 5, 2003, before the war in Iraq had officially been waged, it upsets and disgusts me that not only was my voice ignored by those in power back then, when my fellow students and I advised that there were not WMDs in Iraq and that Saddam Hussein was not an immediate threat to our country, but that they have continued to ignore it year after year, protest after protest.

I don’t go to protests anymore because I think the government actually takes notice or gives a fuck what I have to say. I go to protests because I need a space to share my frustration and sadness, my hope and knowledge with other like-minded people. I think that the walkout at Drew on March 20 truly embodied and exemplified such an event.

After reading Rich’s e-mail, I did some googling to find out what other schools were doing. I was directed to SDS: March 20 Student Day of Action Against the War Blog, where at the time over 70 schools were sharing their organizing strategies. One that I particularly liked was to create a facebook event site for the walkout. Inspired by the recent success of the Democratic Party in online grassroots organizing, I took the initiative to put the event on the Drew facebook network, and invited all of my friends.

At first the response was positive but mild. However, on the second day of the event being posted, some pro-war invitees posted on the event wall to say that they felt that the walkout was not supportive of American troops. I and some other anti-war students wrote back defending our position that being against the ideology of the war does not contradict supporting the soldiers who fight it. Over the next five or so days, the wall of the event became a fertile breeding ground for this discussion to be elaborated upon. People from many walks of life and many political affiliations took part in it. When I suggested that a more appropriate forum for the discussion would be in a facebook group devoted solely to a discussion of the war, some of the dialogue spilled over there, while it also continued furiously on the event page. I received and sent many personal messages and e-mails with people on both sides of the discussion, people who I had and still have never spoken to face to face.

Watching the spontaneous, organic creation of this online community, tense as it sometimes was, (and is, the event may be over but the discussion isn’t) was, for lack of a better word, really cool. Having so many students from different clubs, teams, graduating classes, dorms, etc participate in meaningful dialogue about something they were so passionate about was beautiful, even when I felt personally frustrated with having my political views offended.

By Monday night, the eve before the walkout, there were two groups making plans: the anti-war ralliers and the pro-war ralliers. Separately we made signs, planned strategies, and discussed our passion for the cause. The community was no longer on the internet, now we were sharing ideology in person.

On Tuesday, we walked. I won’t go into the details of everything that happened that afternoon, there are too many, but here are some of the events from that day which are most meaningful to me:

- Sitting in a circle in the courtyard of the UC, sharing stories of friends and family who are or have been stationed in Iraq. Sharing concerns for veterans’ physical and mental health, sharing concerns about the security of our country and others around the world. Reading aloud statistics, newspaper articles, poems, and blog entries about the war.

- Marching into town with my fellow students, waving signs and playing instruments, chanting, talking to shoppers and shop-owners and receiving approving honks from drivers passing by.

- Receiving the support of many of the professors and administrative staff at Drew

- Bonding with 75 new friends

Some people I spoke with before the walkout said they weren’t sure if they could come because they didn’t think they could afford to miss class. My friend Kristin was one of them, and while we marched past the library she confided “I’m skipping my test to be here right now.” “Good for you,” I replied, “Which will you remember in 10 years?” Other people told me that they definitely would not be coming because they attend Drew to learn, and that is their priority. I would like to remind these people that learning is not an activity confined to a classroom or mandated solely by an approved institution. Learning is life. I learned more about myself, my peers, my faculty, and the town of Madison on Tuesday than I’ve learned in weeks of going to class. Maybe semesters. In the words of Mark Twain, “I never allowed schooling to interfere with my education.”

Today, Wednesday, as I again browse SDS: March 20 Student Day of Action Against the War Blog
and read and view the actions that took place at schools across the country, it warms me to see that despite the feelings of isolation that sometimes brew when I view what is often an apathetic campus, I am not alone. There are hundreds of thousands who agree with me, and on Tuesday we made a statement. And while of course it is our desire for the government to take notice of our views and to act upon them, that’s only one reason to walk out. The personal satisfaction and empowerment of communicating with so many people in such an impassioned way is why it was worth it for me to walk out. Why did (or didn’t) you walk out?

- Robin