Student Organizing

As students, we are deeply involved in social movements. But why is that the case? What does that look like in practice? And why is it important for us to carry on that legacy?

Well, conscious action can’t be taken unless we understand the environment in which we live and the forces we have to confront to make that change happen. College can be a time to develop that understanding as you're constantly learning about our society and simultaneously being confronted by a force, in the university, bent on holding back social progress (which is especially true for UChicago as you’ll learn throughout this book). Not only that, you get a direct taste of what it’s like to have very little control over the important decisions that greatly affect your life. You have no say in how your tuition is spent, how your department is run, and how the curriculums for your classes are structured!

At the same time, students occupy a very particular role in society as young people transitioning into the workforce. Today, young people are confronting police brutality, a shrinking job market, crumbling infrastructure, and the worsening climate crisis. And our Universities don’t seem to care at all about these seemingly inevitable crises! The functions of the University are subordinated to the rich corporate heads who control the broken economy and sit on our board of trustees. For example, UChicago would rather invest our tuition dollars and endowment into weapons manufacturers aiding a genocide or fossil fuels destroying the planet than our needs as students or the needs of the surrounding communities.

But it’s not all doom and gloom! The particularities of college campuses like common spaces, walkable living environments, and super interconnected social networks make the process of influencing each other and uniting under a shared vision or set of demands easier! Many people recognize the importance of student organizing because of the historical role it plays in movements and as such we’re often afforded a platform others aren’t. So it’s our responsibility as students about to enter this broken system to come together and start building the future we all desperately need. 

From the civil rights movement and the anti-war movements of the 1960s to the current movements for Black Lives and Palestinian self-determination, the importance of student organizing lies primarily in the sea change of mass consciousness we can effect and the new organizers we can create. So as the next generation, let’s commit to building a new system!