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THE SCOOP: Student activism alive, flourishing at Brandeis
by Richard Alterbaum
Columnists | 11/4/08
Posted online at 3:13 AM EST on 11/4/08
Last week, Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader stopped -- of all places -- at the Waltham farmers market to campaign for his umpteenth run for the office. He gave his usual populism-tinted spiel about the evil of corporations and how the Republicans and Democrats are out of touch.
Although his rhetoric was a tad clichéd, one line of his did stick out for me: He remarked on how college students today are politically apathetic compared to their activist late-1960s counterparts. I respectfully disagree.
I don't need to look any farther than Brandeis to prove this comment wrong. It is no secret that we are a politically involved school; after all, our favorite catchphrase here is social justice, which also happens to be one of the University's "four pillars," and we're named after a Supreme Court justice.
One way we see this is in our regular participation in protests and rallies. For instance, some Brandesians participated in a march against the War in Iraq Oct. 11 in downtown Boston. Liza Behrendt '11 reflected on her experience at the demonstration, stating that "Even if [the rally] doesn't make concrete change, it energizes people."
Another is in our variety of political student-run organizations. Right now, Brandeis College Democrats and Democracy for America are devoted toward aiding Barack Obama and other progressive politicians.
As a member of the former, I, along with dozens of other individuals, canvassed for the Illinois senator in Raymond, N.H., investing considerable time and effort. I was ultimately very satisfied with my decision to help out due to our desire to bring about positive change for America.
Third is the number of get-out-the-vote drives that have taken place on campus. One major one came from the ubiquitous Rock the Vote. Organized by 11 different clubs, this event registered around 50 students to vote and informed them about the positions of the presidential candidates.
We can attribute this activism to a number of factors. One is our University's history and ingrained political culture. Brandeis was founded by an ardent group of Zionists in 1948, the same year that the state of Israel was conceived.
Although his rhetoric was a tad clichéd, one line of his did stick out for me: He remarked on how college students today are politically apathetic compared to their activist late-1960s counterparts. I respectfully disagree.
I don't need to look any farther than Brandeis to prove this comment wrong. It is no secret that we are a politically involved school; after all, our favorite catchphrase here is social justice, which also happens to be one of the University's "four pillars," and we're named after a Supreme Court justice.
One way we see this is in our regular participation in protests and rallies. For instance, some Brandesians participated in a march against the War in Iraq Oct. 11 in downtown Boston. Liza Behrendt '11 reflected on her experience at the demonstration, stating that "Even if [the rally] doesn't make concrete change, it energizes people."
Another is in our variety of political student-run organizations. Right now, Brandeis College Democrats and Democracy for America are devoted toward aiding Barack Obama and other progressive politicians.
As a member of the former, I, along with dozens of other individuals, canvassed for the Illinois senator in Raymond, N.H., investing considerable time and effort. I was ultimately very satisfied with my decision to help out due to our desire to bring about positive change for America.
Third is the number of get-out-the-vote drives that have taken place on campus. One major one came from the ubiquitous Rock the Vote. Organized by 11 different clubs, this event registered around 50 students to vote and informed them about the positions of the presidential candidates.
We can attribute this activism to a number of factors. One is our University's history and ingrained political culture. Brandeis was founded by an ardent group of Zionists in 1948, the same year that the state of Israel was conceived.
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