By Christopher R. Neal
As of late, in the Daily Bruin and around campus in general,
there has been major criticism of student government and student
organizations concerning the issues they choose and choose not to
focus on.
While housing and parking are very important to students, and
while student government should and is working diligently to
address these issues, they should not make this their sole
focus.
It has long been the philosophy of individuals and organizations
on and off this campus that student-funded groups should only
address “student issues.” Defining student issues is
far more difficult than many would expect. Are they limited to
academics, to campus facilities, and/or issues that only affect the
majority of students? Or, does the understanding of student issues
need to be expanded to include the needs of underrepresented
(including and going beyond race) students who, because of their
small size or lack of resources, ignored in most institutional
spheres?
At UCLA, students have historically been at the forefront of
movements that changed the world. The Civil Rights movement in this
county is a clear example of this. Here, students and faculty not
only participated in, but led organizations that worked to stop the
oppressive forces of racism, sexism, homophobia, and worldwide
imperialist domination.
From this ongoing struggle, groups like the African Student
Union were created. They served and continue to serve at the
forefront of the ongoing struggle for human rights.
In the recent past, coalitions of people of color and
progressive white students worked to combat oppression on multiple
fronts. An example of an important coalition is the Third World
Student Coalition that worked and succeeded in persuading the
University of California to cease the oppressive apartheid regime
in South Africa. This coalition exists today in the form of the
Affirmative Action Coalition, which is composed of student
organizations and diverse individuals. The coalition uniquely
represents members of various backgrounds in the student
government.
Many have spoken in the past and will continue to speak of the
“special interest groups” that dominate USAC. However,
unlike the U.S. government, which is composed primarily of
economically over-privileged heterosexual white men, our student
government represents a diversity of classes, genders, ethnicities
and sexual identities. In addition, it continues to work on and
make itself aware of issues concerning people who are endowed
differently mentally and physically, and many other people who
don’t fall into neat categories but are still entitled to an
audience that addresses its concerns.
While student government works hard on issues that concern
students, very little progress could be made without the support of
student organizations. Student organizations on this campus
represent myriad identity and issue based groups. While members of
student organizations, myself included, are labeled as sectarian or
idealistic by many conservative and less-informed students, student
organizations work on both practical and oftentimes revolutionary
issues. These issues are concerned with but not limited to the
proper treatment and rights of all people.
Members of student organizations become aware that there is a
world, not only beyond this campus but within it as well that is
unavailable to most students. While many students hold their breath
waiting for the completion of their four years here so they can
grab their diplomas and become more active consumers, member of
student organizations are preparing to change the world.
We not only want more access to education for the many that are
denied such a right, we also want to fundamentally change the way
we are educated. Academic disciplines such as international
development studies, women’s studies, lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender studies, as well as the creation of a South Asian
studies department and the implementation of a diversity
requirement are just a few examples of ways student organizations,
in coalition with student government, are working to improve the
education we all receive.
When I applied to colleges, my goal was to choose a university
from which would leave enlightened about the world. If the majority
of students continue as they have been, going to classes without
questioning, studying old material without creating new knowledge,
acting as consumers of knowledge and not critics and organizers
against the oppressive and elitist system of education that is
teaching them, they will enter the “real world” with
the same blind understanding of their surroundings that they
currently hold.
In case you are wondering, I do not hate this school. I am not
completely averse to the education I receive here. On the contrary,
I just want to become enlightened. To know the work and time I
spend here has a reason. I want not only to gain knowledge, but
also the ability to critically think about, and become a productive
member of the world community. Participating in student government
and student organizations is a terrific way to facilitate this
process. However, the major factor that determines how a person
learns and develops is dependent on their ability to recognize and
actively address flaws in the way they are and have been educated.
Then they must make a conscious effort to change this system
through resolution and determination.
With the recent attacks on civil liberties and the continued
denial of human rights around the world, we may soon reach the
point where an article like this one will be seen as a security
risk. There may be a time when a dissenting voice is silenced and
the organizations aforementioned are seen as terrorist groups or
simply as “anti-American.”
Some would argue that many, if not all, of these things have
already come to pass. In any case it is up to us to take charge of
our education. We must disregard our roles as consumers and
instead, express our humanity in a way that will enable all people
to claim their right to freedom.