Blog by: Angel Quicksey, OrgSync Campus Liaison, Claremont McKenna College Today’s world is smaller, flatter, and more connected than ever before. Places and people that once seemed remote are now only a click away and virtually right next-door.  Neighbors that once chatted through a fence are now chatting online through a social network such as Facebook, Twitter or AIM. Young people – students, especially – use the internet to stay connected, as it’s easier than ever to reach out to the classmate across campus, parents back home, or even the friend made while studying abroad. Yet, students can use such technologies to reach out in a different way. Young people on campuses around the world already promote social justice and create change. Clubs raise money for relief actions in war-torn countries, they prod politicians and their fellows to take action on environmental issues, they support campaigns for AIDS relief, clean water, and health care. But if one club on one campus can raise a few thousand dollars for Darfur or Burma or the environment, imagine what could be accomplished if those students came together to accomplish something even greater. This is where social media comes in. Recall what students can do without our new technology: •    The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s – the group, begun at Shaw University, staged many of the sit-ins and freedom rides of the civil rights movement and had a leading role in the1963 march on Washington. •    The students of the 1970s and ‘80s who protested apartheid in South Africa – beginning with students of Stanford University in 1974, these young people divestment from companies involved in South Africa during apartheid. By 1988, 155 universities had partially or fully divested funds from the country. These students saw a need for change and combined their efforts across the nation to guarantee civil rights in America and abroad. Today, students have even more tools available to them to create social change. Through the internet, particularly social media sites, students can easily spread information by broadcasting videos, photos and headlining news. The power of these sites has become especially apparent in recent weeks as students and opposition leaders in Iran used Facebook and Twitter to spread their message and capture images, like the death of Neda Agha-Soltan. While perhaps not facing the same immediate strife as the people of Iran, many college and university students tackle other important issues at home and abroad. Yet, most campus organizations seem to work independently, though they may be working toward a similar goal.  Why not take advantage of this new age of social networking and connect with others at your college, in your area, or in a similar branch of your club? Then, once these connections are established using social media, you can create larger events, campaigns and movements that will greatly impact your campus, your nation and even the world.

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“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”, declared President Kennedy.

Ghandi implored, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has,” noted Margaret Mead. These often used quotations are quite popular within the student affairs community because they can be interpreted and applied to the work that we do with students on a daily basis. It should then come as no surprise that a fair amount of institutions of higher education have developed or are currently developing programs solely dedicated to community service and service-learning, most especially when referencing the quotations above. These programs are designed to target the issues affecting the communities in which the institutions are located. For example: 1) The Volunteer and Service Leadership Center at the University of Texas works with non-profit organizations in Austin, Texas  2) The Arizona Blue Chip Program at the University of Arizona works with individuals and groups in the Tucson, Arizona community These two institutions are dedicated to not only serving their local communities, but instilling in the students an understanding about why service to others is important and invaluable. The faculty and staff of programs and centers similar to the two listed above are taking initiative to give back to their communities. In light of President Obama’s “United We Serve” campaign coupled with Americorps, the idea and valuation of community service is garnering more attention. Educating students about the need for service should be commended and lauded, not devalued because it does not apply to ‘in-classroom’ experiences. As such, service to one’s community can be related to ‘in-classroom’ learning because depending on the class, it can always be asked, “where does the need for service originate?” – which relates to business, sociology, economics, and political science just to name a few. Hence, an influx in service-learning programs that not only allow students to perform community service, but ties in the academic component of evaluating the need and purpose for why the service was performed in the first place. These are exciting times ahead in the field of higher education and student affairs due to the increase in service-learning and community service programs that address the needs of not only the surrounding institution’s community, but the state, country, and globe.

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