Tom Vodrey, Staff Writer—
Taking a look at Denison’s campus, you would be excused for not knowing that, in just a month, its students and faculty will be voting in the most consequential off-year election in recent memory. There aren’t any posters on display or students agitating, in fact, there’s little sign that Denison’s voters will soon be casting their Ohio ballots on issues as hot button as reproductive rights and the legal status of marijuana. There’s a remarkable quiet.
Although Denison boasts an impressive 99.6% of eligible voters registered, that statistic misses that being active in a democracy means far more than just being registered to vote, or even casting a ballot. While those are vital activities, change isn’t a process that comes every four, or two, years.. Change takes an active and consistent engagement with the issues.
When I talked to Jeremy King, Denison’s Director of Sustainability and Campus Improvement, he expressed optimism about where the University is headed. He sees hope that Denison will reach its goals for carbon neutrality and beyond. Yet among the challenges he noted was something he saw as missing on Denison’s campus: an engaged student body.
“The student body has the biggest and loudest voice,” he said. “If students demand action it will move the needle.”
Look at Green Team, a group of environmentally concerned students who petitioned the University to demand that single-use plastic containers be removed from campus dining options last year. Their drive received nearly 800 signatures – and it worked. Try to buy a Coke in Slayter and you’ll only have the option of getting it in a recyclable aluminum can. That’s a victory which never would have been handed down by the administration, it had to be fought for by everyday students.
Yet, beyond Green Team, activism leaves much to be desired at Denison. Look through a list of student organizations and you’ll find the names of groups which haven’t hosted an event in years. You’ll find the names of groups which too often refrain from engaging with the wider community. You’ll find that we have more a capella groups than political advocacy organizations.
Even in our student government, where students are explicitly meant to make themselves heard, few want to raise their voice. On a campus of nearly 2,500, the voters of Denison were given only a single choice of who they wanted to represent them as their president this past election.
Are we to believe that every Denison student shares the same singular view on the direction of, not only our university, but our country? Do Denison students simply not care? Of course not, but then yet why do we remain unengaged with the issues which affect us?
It seems to be an issue of ignorance. Too many of us are unaware of the stakes of civic life. Many more are aware of the stakes but are still in the dark when it comes to the ways they can become engaged. More still fall victim to ignorance in one of its most pernicious forms: cynicism, a hopeless ignorance which sizes the challenges we face but shuns any of the avenues we have to address them. Our college experience should break down these barriers, yet we lack the opportunities to do so. Somehow we must break free.
From reproductive rights and marijuana in Ohio, to aluminum cans on campus, these are decisions that will have to be made by someone. We can choose to be unengaged in the processes of making these decisions, but we have no choice but to be affected by them.
Denison, like anywhere else, is home to people who have something to contribute to the discussions of civil society. Each voice has something to say which no other can. However, for various reasons they remain silent. That’s a great loss not only for Denison, but for our larger democracy.
Engagement isn’t easy, it provides many challenges and its goals can seem elusive. But it’s this participation which has made change before and will make change again. So make yourself heard—scream if you have to—we’ll all be better.