Earlier this week, the student group Queer & Allied Activism was re-established at the University. The group was originally established in 2005 but disbanded last spring because it lacked a central goal, according to third-year College student Blake Calhoun, who joined QUAA in 2011.
Third-year College student Greg Lewis, one of the students leading the restoration, said University students often feel that activism is not accessible to them, and QUAA can work to remedy that feeling of disconnect. Second-year College student Carrie Myatt, also at the forefront of the initiative, said that QUAA is not only for people who care about queer rights, but “for anyone who cares about fighting inequality and oppression and anyone who cares at all about social justice.”
QUAA’s goal to assist all groups in activism in order to achieve social justice should be applauded. But whether or not activism is currently unreachable for the majority of students depends on the definition of activism.
Many groups on Grounds unite because of a common background or ideology: Queer Student Union, the Minority Rights Coalition, Feminism is for Everyone. These groups could lend themselves well to activists causes. Some may argue that simply joining one of these organizations and participating in events meant to publicize their causes could be considered activism. But some others would argue that more is necessary in order to identify as an “activist.”
Merriam Webster defines activism as “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” The words “vigorous action” seem to be the most crucial, implying that activism is more than just stating your support for a cause — you have to actually do something that affects change.
A group like QUAA can serve as a good resource for other organizations who seek to accomplish change through action. In the past, QUAA has worked together with the Living Wage Campaign — a strong example of activism in the University community in spring of 2012 — and co-sponsored the Rally to End Hate Crimes. Such partnerships are valuable in order to combine the ideology of a particular group with the initiatives necessary to put such ideology into practice. In fact, it seems as though these partnership are necessary to sustain an organization dedicated primarily to activism and open to a group as broad as “anyone who cares about fighting inequality,” given that QUAA’s previous disbandment was due to the lack of a central goal.
In order to survive for the long term, QUAA must clearly establish their own identity in addition to partnering with other organizations. Their effort to make activism a more integral part of the University community hopefully will lend itself to a variety of demographics. But it would not be possible for one group to advance every cause. The momentum must be taken up by the rest of the student body, if activism is to become a common trend at the University. Given their close-knit, web-like communities and ready access to a wealth of knowledge and information, universities are especially conducive to activism. Hopefully, all student organizations will soon become more inclined toward activism — without necessarily putting the word in their names — in order to bring about social justice in our community, in the state, in the country and in the world.
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