Practical Social Justice on our College Campus
- Shreya Sekar
- Apr 4, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2022
Hello everyone, welcome back to the blog! I hope you all have been having a good semester and enjoying your time in our organization. My name is Shreya Sekar and I am one of the bloggers this semester. I am thrilled you are checking out our blog posts again. In our last meeting we discussed Social Justice and some of the biggest movements happening right now. Here, I am going to be expanding upon ways in which we as college students can individually and collectively practice social justice in order to make our campus and world a better place
Before delving in, I'll first clarify exactly what I am talking about. According to the official dictionary definition, Social Justice is “fair treatment of all people in a society, including respect for the rights of minorities and equitable distribution of resources among members of a community”. Essentially, it is working to provide all groups of people with fair and equal treatment. This also means that there are both big and small things that we can do in order to practice and uphold the mission.
As we can see from that the term “Social Justice” encompasses a lot of different things, which ultimately makes it seem incredibly unattainable to most people. This is understandable considering the current social and political climate of our society. However this is really not the case and we should work to get rid of this misconception, which might be easier said then. Personally, I know that I have thought about how I as a college student possibly do something that is meaningful and impactful to an entire subset of the population. But upon pondering this, I realized that there are many things that we can do. Here are some ways that we as individuals can do to make an impact in our community.
Educate yourself on the major issues going on = The first thing you should do to get involved in any social justice movement is to educate yourself on what is going on. Without research it is impossible to move forward with doing anything. By taking time to do this you can gather information on what you are passionate about and think about what action you want to take to aid efforts.
Donate to people and organizations that share the same beliefs = After taking time to conduct research, one of the easiest ways to start your efforts is to donate to organizations that help the causes you are passionate about. There are many different things you can donate, including money, food, clothes, or time volunteering. What you donate will vary depending on the cause you are working towards. Remember before donating make sure you are giving to credible organizations, looking up their mission, see their past work, and talk to others that have donated to the organization previously. It is important to make sure that your donations are going to the right place and that you are not being scammed into giving up valuable things!
Raise awareness on social media for the social justice movement(s) that you are passionate about = Social media is a great tool for spreading awareness and information rapidly. Use your platform on social media to inform your family, friends, and followers about the issues you are passionate about. As mentioned in a previous blog post, make sure that you are not performing pseudo activism and that you again do proper research to make sure that everything you post is credible! (Check out our blog post for more in depth information on using social media for activism https://rutgersunicef.wixsite.com/childrenfirst/post/female-empowerment-and-avoiding-pseudo-activism-on-social-media )
These are just a few things that I think we as individuals can do to practice social justice. What’s great about this movement is that it is so broad, that there is a wide variety of things we can do. What is included in the list here is just some suggestions I thought you might have, you might come up with other better ones that create a bigger impact on the community.
Like any movement there is power in numbers, if more people work together to reach a goal it is more likely to be successfully completed. The luxury of going to a university as ginormous as Rutgers is that there are many different groups and organizations on campus that we can team up to make a real concerted effort as a group. Here are a few examples of what we can do as a group on our college campus to aid the social justice movement.
Join clubs and organizations about the social justice issues that you are passionate about = Rutgers has so many different clubs and organizations that encompass the wide range of interests of college students. There are many service and social justice organizations that already exist on campus that you can join to make a difference. Whether it be voting rights, climate change, or food insecurity there are plenty of organizations already in place. (Check out the getinvolved site to find these organizations https://rutgers.campuslabs.com/engage/ ). If you do not find an organization that fits your interests, start your own club. If you have the interest surely others will have it too and would love to join! (Check out the Rutgers official steps for starting your own club http://involvement.rutgers.edu/new-organization-recognition-process-and-checklist/)
Organize volunteer events= If you do not have the time to join a club or want to do something on top of your organization’s effort, think about running a volunteer event. One way to do this is by gathering a group of students who are all passionate about the same issue and go to a place where you can volunteer together. Any place that is looking for volunteers would be thrilled if a group of people came together to help aid their efforts. As a group you would be able to make a big impact in a short period of time!
Raise awareness to other students= Making other people aware of what is going on, is a great way to aid all efforts. Gather a group of people who are well informed about the movement to help you reach other people. Some ways that you can do that are by having tables on campus students centers and common areas where students can ask questions, get graphics, and receive information on the movement. By hearing this you might be able to get some more people on board to aid you other efforts!
As with the other list included, these are just a few suggestions of ways I think are most practical for us to try to implement on our campus. There are many other ways to get involved in the movement. If you have any other ideas please share them with us so that we can learn and try to implement them into our own lives!
References
https://today.salve.edu/attend-presentation-on-an-upcoming-social-justice-art-collaborative-project/
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