Daily Archive

Formspring.me is a neat little website that does one simple thing: It lets you ask people questions and read their answers. The questions are anonymous — unless you choose to identify yourself — and they stay private until an answer is submitted.

I set up a Formspring.me account a couple of weeks ago, and I’ll be posting the questions and answers here on an occasional basis. If you’ve got something you’d like to ask, go right ahead.

Question: Did you also study student activism in other countries? Have you found striking parallels/differences in patterns of student activism in different countries and even in different types of US institutions?

Answer: I’ve only done a little research on student activism outside the United States — it’s a vast topic, obviously. One thing that’s kept my study focused at home is the fact that so much of the work I do is on under-studied eras and topics. If I were only a historian of American student activism in the sixties, for instance, it’d be a lot easier (and more tempting) for me to branch out into comparative work.

The question about parallels and differences in activism in different kinds of American higher ed institutions is a great one, and two answers leap to mind immediately.

First, there’s public vs. private. Students at public colleges and universities generally have a lot more leverage over their institutions, and their organizing reflects that. Student governments are stronger at publics, legislative lobbying has more direct impact, regents and trustees can be influenced through the politicians who appoint and confirm them. There are certainly private campuses with strong traditions of activism, but in general there’s more going on at the publics, and that’s been true for the last 40 years.

A second big distinction is between residential and commuter colleges — it’s just a lot easier to organize students when they live on campus. And that doesn’t just apply to sit-ins and rallies, either — a residential campus is likely to have more vibrant clubs and organizations, more student participation in events and activities, more sense of community overall. So even when there’s not a lot of overt “activism” going on, there’s a base of student connectedness that can be tapped into.

After months of organizing, lobbying, and just plain waiting, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act — SAFRA — passed yesterday night. It has been sent to President Obama for his signature.

SAFRA will streamline and simplify the federal student loan program by eliminating banks as go-betweens. The reform’s savings over the next ten years are estimated at $61 billion — or, as one activist Twitterer put it last night, “61 + nine zeros.” The bulk of that money will go to increases in Pell Grants and other education initiatives, with some $20 billion going to deficit reduction.

For a taste of the jubilation with which this vote has been greeted in the policy-geek wing of the student activist movement, check out the #cuzSAFRApassed hashtag on Twitter.