Student Activism

“Activism” as Spanier calls it, has definitely declined over the past 40 years on college campuses, but I see his argument as nothing short of nostalgic. He has the attitude in this article that so many people have, the attitude that their college was at its best when they were there. What surprised me the most is that Spanier failed to take the times into account. The world has changed significantly between 1972 and 2008 (when this article was written). Forty years ago, the fear of Communism was at a high, and most importantly, the Vietnam War was going on. Vietnam was the reason why there was so much activism on campuses. With the draft, there were so many kids between the ages of 18 and 22 over there fighting, and those that were lucky enough to stay home and go to college had their brothers, their cousins, and their best friends over in Southeast Asia fighting an extremely bloody war. Everybody, no matter who they were, was affected. This is quite different than today. Yes, there is a general negative feeling about the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan, but the difference is that there is no draft. When people go over there to fight, it is their own will and desire to fight for their country, so not as many people are greatly affected by it. You will also see that most protesting the war have somebody close to them over there fighting. Spanier, at the end of his article, made my argument for me in a sense when he said student volunteer rates have been steadily increasing. In terms of “activism”, which is more active? Standing on a podium and demanding change, or building a house with Habitat for Humanity and sending aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina?