Purpose. It’s that feeling that evades most college students, and a lacking quality in many required courses. Socially concerned students are on the hunt to find a means to create social change in their communities. Without a giant X to mark where on campus a student might find these opportunities, it is easy to give up and sign up for the first club that catches your eye. In a move to create a resource for students who truly want to revolutionize the social welfare of the world around them, here is a list of organizations that are scattered in universities across the U.S., and the world.
1.ONE
ONE is an international organization advocating for the end of global poverty. With campaigns about how Poverty is Sexist and Stand with Eva, they are mobilizing and educating students around the world about the exponential effects of poverty. Campuses across the world have chapters on site, where students join together and campaign for education, food security, and gender equity for all. Most of the efforts target areas in the continent of Africa, and the organization as a whole has achieved some pretty awesome stuff. Some chapters make an annual trip to D.C. to lobby for policy changes in international aid projects. If there isn’t already a chapter on your campus, start your own!
2.HPA
This organization is a personal favorite; they utilize the concept of fan activism to mobilize nerds all over the world to stand for issues of social justice. The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) began back in 2005, when the founder decided to make civic engagement fun. Among the first campaigns are Wizard Rock the Vote and Helping Haiti Heal, where young adults were asked to register to vote and help send five cargo planes to Haiti during the earthquake relief. Other projects have stood for LGBTQ+ rights, demanding that Warner Bros. source fair trade cocoa for their chocolate products, and building a library in Masaka. Through they’re chapters program, they have mobilized university, high school, and other students in communities around the world.
3.Camp Pride
Any college campus nowadays is bound to have some form of a Pride center. Campus Pride stands as a resource for students, administrators, and independent organizers can come together to educate themselves and others on issues of LGBTQ+. They offer Camp Pride, which acts as a leadership conference for college students that develops social justice skills. They extend resources for Safe Space training and building a greater understanding of LGBTQ+ culture among college students across the States. Check out their program offerings to see if you can bring a little more Pride to your campus.
4.Hollaback!
Hollaback is an organization that grew out of a small group of individuals who began using a different tactic to intimidate their street harassers. When harassed, people take a picture of the perpetrator and upload it to Hollaback’s database, sharing their story and experience. In doing this, the intimidator gets a mouthful of their own medicine. This is a more aggressive peaceful protest tactic, but it turns heads. There are Hollaback groups located is most major cities in the U.S., but with sexual harassment becoming a more public problem on college campuses, this becomes a great opportunity to create a movement at university campuses everywhere.
5.Sierra Student Coalition
The Sierra Student Coalition has been gathering students working tirelessly in the name of environmental justice. With campaigns to get cities on 100% clean energy, they are educating and empowering young citizens to stand up for an endangered environment—Earth. Through their work, they have retired almost half of the natural gas and coal plants in the U.S., and installed over 50,000 clean megawatts. Along with a focus on clean energy, they stand for the preservation of wildlife and delisting endangered species. With a good network among policymakers and innovative changemakers, this is an organization to bring to your campus.
