“Good things don’t come to those who wait. They come to those who agitate.”
-Julian Bond
The modern American civil rights movement was birthed from a collective movement of individuals across the country demanding change. As Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot shows, student organizing played a critical role in the movement, spearheading SNCC and the Nashville sit-ins. Today, 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, we still havework to do. And, we see history repeating as we witness a growing movement on campuses across the country as students stand up for racial equality.
On November 18th students nationwide stood in solidarity with the University of Missouri on #StudentBlackOut Day. Student activists at 37 colleges led their peers in protests to challenge the racial inequity they face on campus. Earlier that week hundreds of students, escorted by Boston police officers, marched down the streets of Boston chanting “we pay for education, not discrimination.” Others chanted the familiar “black lives matter.” After the protests at the University of Missouri, and the subsequent resignation of Mizzou’s president and chancellor, students at more than 80 schools shared statements in support of Mizzou’s student protesters.
Claremont McKenna, Smith, Yale, Ithaca College, the University of Alabama and many more. The list keeps growing as students take a stand against a seeming indifference from administrators to their lived experiences of racial intolerance on campus.
Some of those students standing up for what is right are members of an SPLC on Campus group. SPLC on Campus encourages emerging activists and provides support to a new generation willing to stand against injustice. As students raise their voices for change, SPLC on Campus stands ready to support them and their allies—including faculty, staff and administration—to meet their shared goals for inclusive campus communities.
Share your story! What’s happening on your campus? What advice would you give others? How do you think the actions and events we are seeing on campuses across the nation will impact students and college communities when it comes to issues of race and intolerance? Comment on our Facebook page or send an email to splconcampus@splcenter.org
Join SPLC on Campus! Find out more here.
Emily Mumford
SPLC on Campus Coordinator