College students as catalysts for social change: a case study

Statement of Problem

The problems that plague American society are, in many respects, problems of leadership. By ‘leadership’ we mean not only what elected and appointed public officials do, but also the critically important civic work performed by those individual citizens who are actively engaged in making a positive difference in the society. A leader, in other words, can be anyone – regardless of formal position – who serves as an effective social change agent. (p. 2)

According to Campus Compact's member survey, nearly three-quarters of colleges and universities cite both student leadership development and student civic engagement as key desired outcomes in their strategic plans (2006). These problems regarding civic engagement and a leadership crisis are concerns of higher education nationwide.

Relevance of My Study

This study stems from the current movement within higher education to assess institutional influences on student learning and outcomes. Many in the field wonder if leaders are developed more by accident than by leadership education efforts (e.g., Bennis, 1989; Kouzes & Posner, 2002). “An exciting search is on to discover a new civic DNA, the biochemistry of leadership that fits the demands and opportunities of the 21^st century” (Pierce & Johnson, 1997, p. 8). SLP is intentional about fostering civic engagement and leadership in individual students. The founders believe SLP can act as a catalyst for change by exposing students to a variety of issues. SLP engages in a process in which they believe that students reveal individual leadership gifts and then students pursue their own passion.

The SLP mission aligns with a shift in commitment to individual community service in this country. In undergraduate surveys conducted by Levine (1969, 1976, 1993), students were asked if undergraduate education would be improved if students were required to spend a year in community service in the U.S. In the first two surveys, in the late 60s and 70s, none of the students agreed with the statement; however, by 1993, 41% agreed with it. This dramatic difference indicates a substantial paradigm shift in commitment to service among undergraduate students (Levine & Cureton, 1998, p. 131). This increase in commitment is seen in actual service as evidenced by the following statistics from Teach For America: “In spring 2002, 14,000 graduating seniors and recent college graduates applied to join our corps. Seven percent of Yale’s senior class applied. 14% of Spelman’s senior class applied. Peace Corps and AmeriCorps experienced increases of 30-40%; Teach For America’s applications increased 200%” (Kopp, 2003, p. 187).

This paradigm shift is also supported by the plethora of trade books currently available with titles such as: It’s Your World-If You Don’t Like, It Change It: Activism for Teenagers (Halpin, 2004), How to Change the World (Bornstein, 2004) or The Power of Serving Others (Morsch & Nelson, 2006). In addition to books, the Internet and other evolving technologies provide student activists with access to a virtually limitless amount of information and service opportunities. Some examples include the Institute for Global communications website with groups such as Peacenet, Antiracismnet, Womensnet and Protestnet. There is an electronic clearinghouse for social activists called the Center for Campus Organizing (CCO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts that also recognizes the power of the Internet and can connect over two thousand student activists (Rhoads, 2000). Other Internet sites exist such as Youthnoise.org, Servenet.org, Soundout.org, Creativeaction.org, and dosomething.org.

There is also Idealist.org, a program of Actions without Borders, a "global clearinghouse of nonprofit and volunteering resources" offering a directory of volunteer opportunities and other resources. These volunteer opportunities include hosting nonprofit career fairs for students interested in working in the nonprofit arena. Julie Smith of Idealist.org indicated that the site has 207,485 members as of 2007 and that approximately 10% of their new members are from colleges (personal communication, October 31, 2007). All of these books, websites and organizations it may be argued are a reaction to the current increase in activism and/or may be a response to it. Regardless, SLP is riding the larger movement of civic engagement by providing service and leadership opportunities.