After Barack Obama was elected president last November, our generation swore that we would keep up the political fervor of the previous months and not sink back into apathy. Looking around campus the past few days, however, it is clear that Binghamton University students haven’t followed through on that promise.
There is a huge number of events happening on campus, many of which deserve far greater campus participation than they’re receiving. Just yesterday, for example, a rally was held to increase awareness for the National Equality March, which will take place in Washington, D.C. in October. The march is dedicated to the fight for equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The Sierra Club held a rally Wednesday to educate students on the use of coal for fuel on college campuses. And Tuesday, well-known author Edwin Black lectured on the history of oil in America and advocated for further development of alternative energy technology.
On average, less than 20 students attended each of these events. We can do better than that.
College is the time for us to explore our world and become passionate about what’s happening in it. That doesn’t mean attending every single event on campus, but it does mean finding an area of interest and becoming involved, because the opportunities we have on campus won’t be available forever. Only here can we listen to renowned experts in their fields speak for free, and on almost every subject imaginable, within walking distance of our rooms.
This is something students should be taking advantage of, not ignoring.
There’s a lot to be said for playing Halo for hours at a time, holing up in the library to study for exams and spending every spare moment on Facebook. All those things are parts of life. But in between all the other things we do, it’s important to find the time to educate ourselves on what’s going on under our noses, and to care enough to do something.
After all, isn’t that what college is supposed to be about? We owe it to ourselves, and to future generations, to be active in what’s happening in our society if we really want to continue the change that came about last November.