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The nuts-and-bolts assistance programs that student governments run for the students they serve may not be the most exciting aspect of campus activism, but they are activist endeavors. They represent students working for students to advance a student-centered agenda, independent of the priorities of the university administration.
Stories like this one are small stories, in other words, but important stories.
We met a bunch of amazing folks at the USSA Congress last week, and we’ll be passing along news about the great work they’re doing in the days to come. To start the ball rolling, here’s a blog that a student from Massachusetts clued us in to: For Student Power. It’s not updated all that frequently, but the stuff that does go up is worth the wait.
If any of our new readers (or old friends) have suggestions for links, pass them along in comments. Thanks!
The United States Student Association Congress is underway this afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin. I’ll be arriving there late tonight, and staying through until the bitter end. If any of my readers are going to be there and would like to meet up, keep an eye out, or have one of the USSA staff point me out.
I’m hoping to get a chance to post on the Congress from the scene. If I don’t, look for a wrapup after I return, and increased posting frequency thereafter.
According to the folks at FairVote, student governments at more than half of the thirty highest-ranked colleges and universities in the US News & World Report poll use instant-runoff voting (IRV) in their elections.
With IRV, voters rank candidates by preference, and when the candidate in last place is eliminated, the second-place choice votes from that candidate’s ballots are distributed among those remaining. The process is repeated until one candidate receives majority support. IRV eliminates the need for runoff elections while allowing supporters of candidates who finish behind the leaders to have a say in the final outcome.
FairVote claims that campuses switching to IRV tend to see significant increases in turnout in student government elections.
An essay on free-speech rights in high schools from a First Amendment scholar:
After 12 years of censorship and regimentation, many high school students will graduate this spring with little or no idea about what it means to be a free, active and engaged citizen in a democracy. When they march across the stage to get their diploma, let’s hope someone slips them a copy of the First Amendment – with instructions on how to use it.
Far too many public school officials are afraid of freedom and avoid anything that looks like democracy. Under the heading of “safety and discipline,” administrators censor student religious and political speech, shut down student newspapers and limit student government to discussions about decorations at the prom.
Fortunately, a growing number of brave students defy the odds and take seriously what they hear about free speech in civics class…
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