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Campus Activism Article 10-20-03
FGCU students aim to spark
activist spirit
Some say stirring support difficult
By DAVID E. PLAZAS dplazas@news-press.com
FGCU isn¹t a carbon copy of University of California at Berkeley.
Students aren¹t out protesting a cause a day and confronting school
administrators over their policies.
³We¹ve been very fortunate,² said Vincent June, dean of students. ³There¹s a
different ambience on our campus. It¹s been very low-keyed.²
That¹s not to say that Florida Gulf Coast University students aren¹t trying
to rally students for political and social causes.
At the 6-year-old school, some students are trying to raise awareness of
issues including keeping tuition low, protecting animal rights and fighting
globalization.
They are trying to sell the idea of activism to students on a campus that
some have thought of as apathetic.
³It¹s dead,² said senior Benjamin Andrews, 22, of LaBelle. ³You have no clue
how impossible it is to get anybody mobilized.²
Andrews founded the World Citizens Club to fight for social justice and
protest globalization in the form of the World Bank and free trade
agreements.
The club has six members and meets next week for the first time.
³The politics we have are unfashionable on this campus,² Andrews said.
He had previously participated in or organized anti-war rallies and speeches
on campus. He said he received no hostility from it.
³It¹s a college campus,² said FGCU student government President Jeff Faramo.
³There¹s a more liberal feel on a college campus.²
Faramo is working to stir up students to fight against state tuition
increases and changes to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program and the
Florida Prepaid College Plan.
³If you get people informed and make them knowledgeable that this could
affect their pocketbooks, they do come,² he said.
The challenge is persuading legislators to take students seriously, he said.
³They think a college student is 20 years old and drinking every night, and
not going to class,² he said. ³It isn¹t true.²
In fact, Democrats are trying to recruit new members from college campuses.
In a statewide tour of campuses in September called ³Donkey Rocks,²
Democratic leaders sought to register students to vote.
³I¹m a lifelong Democrat ‹ I was energized by the ŒDonkey Rocks¹ tour,² said
Colin Benner, 21, of Fort Myers. ³I think it would be an appropriate time to
get organized on campus.²
Benner is trying to get enough people together to form a Democrat club. So
far he has identified eight to nine people who are interested.
³I think there are a lot of people who might be politically disinterested,²
he said.
Right now, FGCU has no political clubs. Nor do Edison Community College or
International College, according to college officials.
Benner, who also directs the student government¹s lobbying, is working with
Faramo on the tuition and scholarship issues.
Students have a chance to get riled up during a campus rally on Nov. 13 and
a Tallahassee rally on March 17.
A similar rally in February only attracted 17 FGCU students.
Sophomore Katie Hammer, 20, said it¹s critical that students get more
involved in activist causes.
³I think college campus activism should be encouraged,² she said. ³To think
about injustice is one thing, but to get out there and do something about it
is another.²
Hammer is president of a campus animal rights group called The Power of One,
which has about 45 interested members, she said.
She¹s walked for animal rights in Fort Lauderdale and said her group will
protest circuses, promote pet adoption and demonstrate against the sale of
exotic pets.
³I¹m all about protesting peacefully,² she said.
On Saturday, FGCU had the freshman orientation called Eagle Expo, which
exposed first-year students to the university¹s clubs, fraternities and
sororities and honor societies.
University Environment Club member Tina Mayfield, 21, of West Palm Beach sat
at a booth ready to answer questions about her group¹s activities.
While she doesn¹t consider her 55-member group an activist organization, she
said the club promotes environmental awareness and sponsors community
service projects such as pulling vines at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.
³We want to increase community involvement,² she said. ³We believe in
helping the environment. I think being an environmentally focused campus has
helped.²
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Copyright 2003 The News Press