WASHINGTON — Students at Vermont’s Champlain College were supposed to lend their voices to the Occupy movement sweeping the nation. The school signed up to participate in a nation-wide student solidarity protest, but only five people showed up.
Occupy Colleges, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, organized the protest as its second demonstration. According to its website, over 90 schools across the country signed up to participate.
Senior and business major Nate Getzow, along with fellow undergraduates Josh Anthony and Taylor Silvestri decided to bring Occupy Colleges to their campus last week by organizing a walkout and informational tables.
The effort drew about 30 people, including faculty and staff. The student population is about 2,000.
“Over the last four or five years we felt like something was utterly wrong with the United States. We were waiting for something happen. For the pressure to boil,” he said.
According to Getzow, lack of attendance was mostly due to bad timing for students because the march occurred during midterms.
Getzow also said that today’s college student may find it hard to balance their busy schedule with political activism. They may ask themselves, “How do I weigh these things?” he said.
Champlain wasn’t the only school signed up for the march with less than desirable attendance; a protest at Washington D.C.’s American University didn’t happen at all.
Efforts to occupy USC resulted in a one-student vigil, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The connection between Wall Street and higher education issues may not be clear to most students, according to Dominic Moulden resource organizer for ONE DC. Once students are aware of the issues they may be more apt to get involved.
“Where are the colleges putting their money? Make that an issue on campus,” he said.
Apathy is another reason.
People aren’t aware of the looming threat that capitalism holds in its current form, Getzow said.
Rebecca Thompson, director of Young People For, said young people have to see themselves in a movement before they’re willing to get involved.
“We have to start with the issues that hit closest to home,” she said.
In the past, youth have played an important role in social justice movements.
“If you go back to the 60s it was young people on the frontlines of change,” Thompson said.
Because they aren’t necessarily established in life, young people have less to lose by protesting.
“They were almost sacrificial in a sense,” Thompson said.
Champlain occupiers talked about ways to engage more of the student population at their Wednesday general assembly.
Getzow would like to get use music and other arts to draw others in. He would like to like for people to see the movement as less political but more about “the spirit of humanity,”
For now, the group still plans to contribute to the movement. They are currently collecting non-monetary donations to take to protesters in New York this week.