Avery Adelini is a biological sciences freshman and political opinion columnist for Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
Protest booths, political clubs and advocacy groups are a constant part of campus life. These displays offer opportunities to engage, yet many of them go ignored. Time and time again, I’ve heard mentions from peers of wanting to get involved or wanting to make a difference on and outside of campus, yet the number of people that I’ve met who are actually actively engaged is minuscule in comparison.
Cal Poly students have access to resources that can create meaningful change, from ASI involvement and on-campus committees to student-run organizations and faculty mentorship. It’s up to each student whether or not they will take action. By being actively involved at Cal Poly, students learn that they are capable of making significant impacts on policy or public opinion. This sense of autonomy and ability to self-advocate is extremely important to gain early on, as it promotes a future of taking action instead of settling for complacency.
Activism at Cal Poly has been historically low, a stark contrast with many of our demonstrative neighboring campuses. However, recent visibility surrounding clubs like Cal Poly Democrats and Turning Point USA Cal Poly indicates that students may be moving beyond passive awareness and into action.
MacGregor Lang, an environmental management and protection freshman, participates in multiple activism and community service groups on and off campus, most notably with SLO Climate Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine. He said that there is importance in engaging with global issues and contributing to change in any way one can.
“It’s the responsibility of students to fight for the causes that they believe in,” Lang said. “Even if they cause disagreement from other students or are met with political apathy.”
In many ways, Cal Poly’s student body feels strangely uninvolved. This on-campus culture of complacency perpetuates itself; many students won’t take that first step of activism if they aren’t led by example. I’ve met people who truly want to make a difference but assume that Cal Poly isn’t the place to do it, that Cal Poly is too “soft” or overrun with STEM majors to harbor organized movements.
This mindset of needing an “already involved” culture is a part of the problem. Campus cultures don’t just appear; they’re cultivated by individual efforts growing into larger causes. It’s important that students realize just how much power they have as individuals to cause change.
“Students underestimate their own capacity to get involved,” Lang said. “I talk to people who recognize the importance of many global issues, and maybe if they were in a school where there was more of a culture of activism, they would be pushed to act more.”
Many of my peers hesitate to act because of the assumption that they are too “small” to influence change on their own. It’s a pattern of learned helplessness that stops efforts towards change from happening.
While it may feel like it, you are never too small to take on big issues. With more than 20,000 people surrounding you every day, it’s easy to just feel like a number at Cal Poly. This reduction of the self can lead many students to question the actual weight of their involvement; to wonder what difference they could make on issues as large as national policy.
By being a part of a movement throughout and beyond campus, students with ambition can actualize it and develop an identity outside of the conforming nature of the university. We can find community and support within organizations that create real change. The support is there; it’s up to students to find it.
“The more people that do something, the more there is a cultural shift towards people getting involved in activism being normal, even in a small form,” Lang said. “Students need to approach political issues with accountability for themselves and others while providing support to nurture community and openness in these spaces.”
Cal Poly is capable of showing up. The challenge is to actually do it. Dive deeper into a topic your political science professor lectured about. Approach an advocate booth on campus and ask them how you can get involved. Sign a petition that will help a cause you care about. Don’t let yourself be complacent about an issue that you want solved.