Campus Activism: How to Organize a Student Protest

Campus Activism: How to Organize a Student Protest

If you are a student who is passionate about dealing with the issue of fracking and stopping it from happening around the world, organizing a student protest is one of the best ways to get your voice heard and inform others of your plight. If big enough, protests can be influential in decision-making, and at times, protests have stopped policies from going through or decisions from being made. Here’s how to organize a student protest against fracking at your college campus.

Get People Involved

The first thing that you’ll need to do when setting up your student protest is to get people involved. Before you move on to the planning and organizing stage, you will need to know that you have enough people involved in the protest to make an impact and make people take notice. There are many ways in which you can get people involved, for example by putting up posters or handing up flyers around your campus, or using social media such as Facebook Events. Using social media is a great way to promote your protest or event if you’re an online student studying from home with Rutgers Online MSW online programs.

Get Support

At college, there is often a range of societies and groups which students can join. These are comprised of sports clubs, hobbies, and often activist groups, too. Perhaps there is an ‘Eco-Friendly’ group or society at your college, in which case they would be the ideal people to ask to support your protest. Even if you’re studying for your M.S.W. online, you will likely still have access to groups and societies on campus. Or, you may want to reach out to an environmental charity to endorse you, perhaps by sharing your event on their social media page or providing sponsorship. Having the right support behind you will boost your chances of making an impact.

Get Permission

Protests are often busy and loud, and with the risks of violence and escalation that often come with even the most peaceful of protests, the last thing that you want is for your protest to be unauthorized and cause chaos. The best way to gain attention isn’t through causing a riot, but by simply demanding that you are heard – something that is best done with peaceful, planned protests backed up with a police presence and proper structure. So, be sure that you have permission from the relevant authorities and have informed local law enforcement agencies of your plans.

Set Guidelines

When organizing a student protest, it’s important to make sure that it has strict guidelines to adhere by, as failing to do so could result in the protest getting out of hand. This could include rules about placards, for example, or making clear that unacceptable behavior will result in a protestors being removed.