It’s called the “Northwestern bubble,” describing a campus filled with college students who are more interested in partying, studying or student groups than fighting for a cause.
“NU has this reputation for being really apathetic,” said Weinberg junior Nithya Krishnan, president of Campus Activists.
But this year, students are working to break out of the bubble and spur student activism on campus. Sunday night both College Democrats and NU Students for Ron Paul held events, and multiple rallies are scheduled for later in the week, including one against Burger King’s alleged exploitation of tomato farm workers.
After Sunday’s events and more protests and rallies scheduled for this week, are NU students becoming more active?
The answer may be yes. Some students attended a rally on Oct. 1 in support of the Jena 6, a protest on Oct. 6 against a Chicago H&M department store’s handling of an alleged racial slur by a salesperson, a candlelight vigil last Wednesday for the monks seeking democracy in Myanmar, and a march on Saturday in downtown Chicago against the Iraq War.
“To be honest, in general, I don’t think that NU is necessarily the most politically active campus,” said Weinberg junior Lily Becker, co-vice president for administration of College Democrats. “But I have seen more activism this year than perhaps in the past years that I’ve been here.”
Krishnan said she’s also seen an increase in activism.
“I think (this year) there’s a greater concern and awareness in general,” Krishnan said. “A couple years ago, with something like Jena 6, nobody would’ve done anything, or mentioned it even.”
Campus leaders of activist groups said they are uncertain as to the reason for this change.
Krishnan credited the change to increased publicity and the collaboration of different activist student groups on campus, while Becker said she believes the change is due to the current political environment.
“I feel like this is a really important time in the world, because of the election next year,” she said. “I think people are getting geared up for next year’s election and reacting against the way the country is going.”
Organizers of issue-based events, aimed at protesting injustices or fighting for specific causes, said they think today’s contentious political atmosphere and presidential campaigns have led to more interest in political events.
“A lot of people on campus are interested in politics or concerned with the 2008 election, so they focus on politics,” said Communication freshman Marcus Shepard, who is organizing an event today in support of Megan Williams, a 23-year-old black woman who said she was kidnapped, raped and tortured for more than a week in West Virginia.
Political activist leaders, on the other hand, said students are drawn to events dealing with the issues that are most important to them.
“More people are willing to get involved with a specific issue than they are with a party,” Becker said. “I think it’s because they’re disillusioned with politics or they see it as having a broader focus, and they can get involved more deeply with issue-specific (events).”
Meanwhile, not all leaders agree that NU is more active this year than in years past.
“I wouldn’t say that I’ve seen a significant change,” said Weinberg senior Julian Hill, the former president of For Members Only, NU’s black student alliance. “There were a lot of big issues over the last couple years, but the question is whether (the activism) will be sustained.”
Shepard said there is still much to be done on campus to encourage student involvement.
He pointed to the fact that at the Jena 6 event earlier this year, there were more students from the University of Illinois than from NU, even though the event was held at The Rock.
“I don’t think (NU) is very active,” Shepard said. “I haven’t seen that many rallies or protests, and it doesn’t seem like people support the causes. The spirit is kind of dead, people are just focused on their work and (on) going out and partying.”
Music and Weinberg sophomore Hugh Roland, treasurer of Campus Activists, said NU student activists still have a long way to go.
“At the (anti-war) protest on Saturday, there were a ton (of students) from other schools, who were really organized,” he said. “But Northwestern doesn’t really have that, and it’s kind of sad, but that’s what we’re trying to build.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at [email protected].
