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Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 08:00 PM CDT
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| Last year there was certain energy around campus: perhaps one of the most significant elections in recent history was taking place and political activism was coming to life on campus. It did not matter what political ideology you identified with, or what issue you found to be most compelling, there was a conversation happening somewhere on campus. The question is now whether or not a campus that has never been significantly politically active will continue to expand on that political and activist energy, or during the relative quiet during a year when there is not a presidential or congressional election will that energy fade away.
What may capture the interest of the student body is a debate that has heated up during the month of August as students prepared to return to campus for the fall semester. The debate over health care reform has already sparked some student activism, as students participated in the recent town hall on health care reform that was presented by Congressman Chet Edwards. The Texas A&M Chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas voiced opposition to health care reform, while the Aggie Democrats voiced their support of health care reform. However, it is difficult to predict if this single issue will be able to propel students who have not been involved in politics or activism before to become involved now. Despite being the most politically conservative student body in the country, there is not a considerable amount of conservative political activism on campus. Perhaps the most consistently politically active group of conservative students have been active in off campus activism; over the last several years several students have been actively involved with the pro-life activism off of campus. Students have regularly been among the protesters who stand outside of the fence at Planned Parenthood, and many join in the 40 Days for Life campaign which now takes place twice a year. However, many other students have joined those like myself who stand inside the fence, and escort patients and clients inside the clinic to provide them with support and be there for people who are making a very difficult choice.
There is a new group of activist students that may be reaching out on campus, a group of students that a much more progressive but do not actively participate in partisan politics. The Human Rights Coalition, which was founded as a local grassroots organization earlier this year, is working towards becoming recognized on the Texas A&M campus. Originally founded by Charles Biash, Amelia Mayer, and Renee Robinson, this group of community members and students has focused on several issues from social justice to animal rights, and has modeled itself less after the hierarchal political organizations and more as a community of activists. Currently Braden Deckard is working with anthropology professor Michael Alvard to gain recognition as an organization on campus, and to bring more progressive activist opportunities to students. Most recently the Human Rights Coalition played a very significant role in the protest of the immigrant family detention center T. Don Hutton in Tyler, Texas, and the coalition of activist organization that protested the detention center eventually lead to the closure of the facility as a family detention center and the changing of the Obama Administration's policies towards immigrant detention. However, organizations like this one are the exception that proves the rule.
More Below the Fold... |
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| There are eleven organizations on campus that are either official recognized, in progress of being recognized, or on a restricted status of reorganization. The Texas A&M College Republicans, the Young Conservatives of Texas A&M, and the Aggies for Life are the three prominent conservative political organizations, while the Texas Aggie Democrats, the Texas A&M National Organization for Women (NOW) Chapter, and the Planned Parenthood VOX Student Group are the most prominent progressive political organizations. The two peace and human rights organizations that are active on the Texas A&M campus are the Brazos Valley Coalition Against War - A&M Chapter, which is a organization closely aligned with the Human Rights Coalition, and the Aggie Amnesty International. Three other organizations listed as "social and political issue" organizations are the Student Society for Stem Cell Research, China-US Relations Forum, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). However, when compared to the University of Texas which has over thirty active student organizations that are listed as political organizations, and many more activist student organizations, Texas A&M provides only a very limited amount of opportunity for students to take an active role in political and social issues.
Perhaps the most significant reason that there is a lack of not just progressive student activist organizations on the Texas A&M Campus but even conservative student activist organizations is that Aggieland (Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station) has historically been a relatively small and isolated community. There is a sense that many of the people that live in the area view the rest of the state and the country from afar, and tend to have a purposefully limited world view. A simple mantra that plays on a phrase used by people in Austin that can be seen from time to time on shirts in the area sums up this attitude: "Keep College Station Normal." Despite the fact that you can, on a much less frequent occasion, see shirts that respond to this idea that read "Make Bryan Weird," the simple idea that the people here want to keep Aggieland "normal" explains much about the mindset of many of the community members and the students that attend Texas A&M. To be an activist is to acknowledge that changes in society and culture need to be made, but for many they would just assume that everything is fine the way it is. Why should women be admitted to an all male university? Why should a GLBT organization be recognized? Why should anything change? Change is difficult, normal is comfortable. Why should I get involved in a cause when there is beer to drink at the Dixie Chicken?
Political and Social Thought...
to the Left of College Station |
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