If political activism is defined merely as street demonstrations and participation in the political process, then college students today are politically apathetic. The protests against the Iraq War on college campuses pale in comparison to the thousands of campus demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Suffrage among college students is also low; in 2006 the voter turnout rate for ages 18-29 was only 25.5 percent.

But political activism is more than voting or demonstrating. To gain perspective on activism at Whitman, I interviewed five active seniors about what role they think activism plays in their lives and future careers.

“There are so many little things that go on here that aren’t loud protests and so they get swept under the table. Working in the organic garden might not be seen as political activism but the people that work there see something wrong with our food system and so that’s our form of building skills to lessen our dependence on a problematic system,” said James Most, who runs the organic garden. He also organizes Critical Mass and started a club called Food Not Lawns.

“Activism comes in different levels, all the way from organizing a march to starting a discussion. I personally can’t participate in the elections and so I have less of a role to play at that level but I think that being active on a local, community level is just as important as being active on the national stage,” said Yukta Kumar, who brought the “Why Democracy?” films to campus and is a member of Whitman Direct Action.

“Everyone has dreams but often they forget about them or brush them aside. Activism is about dreaming and being a dreamer,” said Alan Waxman, who is the co-president of the American Indian Association and Local Nations Partnership and volunteers at Nixyawii, a local high school.

The five acknowledged that it can sometimes be hard to be an activist while still balancing schoolwork.
“Sometimes I sit in the library working on things that aren’t homework and I start worrying that academics aren’t the first thing on my mind,” said Kumar.

However, all agreed that school is extremely important to activism and that Whitman has helped them become better activists.

“In high school I had an idea of what I wanted the community to be but I didn’t know how to make that happen. Whitman has helped me to identify problems and figure out ways to address them,” said Johanna Allen, who heads up an effort to support local workers and works a lot on immigrant rights issues. “Education is a really strong catalyst for political activity.”

Many classes at Whitman have inspired activism. The beginning of Whitman community support for local workers started when members of a class taught by politics professor Paul Apostolidis held a rally supporting Tyson workers in Pasco. From that campaign followed the successful Three Mile Dairy rally and now the current Northwest Beef campaign to help workers get better insurance and livable wages.
Even classes that just make students think about issues help to in create a more proactive lifestyle.

“Sitting through a class that makes me think about issues of race or gender or class or the media makes me more sensitive to these issues and more proactive about them in everyday life,” said Kumar.

Katie King, co-presi dent of Campus Climate Challenge, thinks that activism on college campuses can go farther than raising self-awareness or even helping local communities and actually affect policy on a national scale.

“People pay attention to college campuses and whether we realize it or not campuses are where a lot of really cool programs get started. That’s where Campus Climate Challenge fits in: it’s a movement founded on the premise that student activism can shape wider policy debates,” said King.

These students hope that when they graduate they will be prepared to go out into the world and create even more change.

“Right now it’s practice. [College activism] is four years of building values and practicing skills. Now I know when I’m out of school I want to be growing a lot of my own food and working to organize people,” said Most.

If these students are any indication, college students are far from apathetic.