Petition

Students Turn to Change.org to Run Campus Campaigns

Students at colleges and universities are primed to start and join social movements.

They’re surrounded by a supportive group of peers, they have access to campus resources like event space and organizational funding, they are encouraged to think critically in the classroom and in their free time, and, most of all, they are optimistic about the future.

2015 was a big year for student campaigns and, as a result, we’ve seen an increase in campus petitions on Change.org.

The petitions — on topics from parking on campus to animal testing to football games — generated more than one million combined signatures while also gaining media coverage that further highlighted the issues in contention.

Here are six campus petitions making waves that are currently on Change.org:

1. Princeton University students were featured in The New York Times after starting competing petitions about race and diversity on campus. Their university’s Black Justice League started a petition that asks the administration to address the legacy of Woodrow Wilson.

 

2. Carmel College students successfully petitioned for an LGBT+ society on campus.

 

3. A University of Iowa student is asking the school to commit to sustainability goals and already has the attention of local media.

 

4. The Student Association at Durham College and University of Ontario Institute of Technology is using Change.org to improve dining options from dietary and financial standpoint.

 

5. California State University Monterey Bay students launched a petition to address rising tuition costs in the California State University system, which is currently more than $5,400 a year.

 

6. Yes All Daughters wants a list of middle and high schools under investigation for sexual assault cases as a follow up to the Department of Education’s disclosure on cases at colleges and universities.

 

As 2015 comes to a close we expect students to take a well-deserved break from their campus campaigns, but we know many more students will look to make change in 2016.

Pulin Modi is a Senior Campaigner at Change.org

Written by
Change.org
December 22, 2015 3:00 pm