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FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE GROUPS

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Why Work for Peace &Justice on Campus? .............................. 3How to Start a Group .......................... 4Meetings & Group Process ................. 5Planning an Event ................................. 6Planning a Campaign ............................ 7Research ............................................... 8Publicity Techniques .............................9-10

Media and Press Releases .................... 11Building your Membership& Support Base.................................... 12Nonviolent Direct Action ...................... 13Bibliography.......................................... 14For the Long Haul ................................ 15Helpful Organizations........................... 16

INSIDE:•

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The Center for Campus Organizing(CCO) was an organization of students,faculty, staff and alumni working to extendthe base for peace and justice organizingin the US. CCO introduced students toskills they will need to serve as lifelongcommunity organizers, setting up commu-nications networks, establishing a net-work of student and faculty/staff campuscontacts, and promoting alternative cam-pus media. We pooled the resources ofliberal and progressive alumni to countersimilar efforts on the right, and to buildbridges between younger and older activ-ists. CCO was an outgrowth of the Univer-sity Conversion Project, a student activ-ism clearinghouse founded out the move-ment against the Gulf War in 1991. Unfor-tunately CCO folded in the summer of2002 and no longer exists.

WrWrWrWrWritten and Edited bitten and Edited bitten and Edited bitten and Edited bitten and Edited by:y:y:y:y:Rich Cowan, Nicole Newton, Jeremy

Smith Alex Brozan, Niels Burger, MaiaHomstad

Mildly Revised in 2002 by: Aaron Kreider

As of 2002 this guide is available online:

www.campusactivism.org

This Guidebook was published in April1995 as a supplement to a new quarterlybulletin, Study War No More. Cover de-sign by Alex Brozan, top graphic by SandyVon Duke, bottom photo by Jenny Brown,Gainsville Iguana.

© 1995 Center for Campus Organizing.© 1995 Center for Campus Organizing.© 1995 Center for Campus Organizing.© 1995 Center for Campus Organizing.© 1995 Center for Campus Organizing.As of Nov. 2002 permission is granted bythe Center for Campus Organizing tofreely copy and distribute this guide.Note: the last two pages of the guide havebeen substantially updated by AaronKreider as they were out of date.

ISBN 0-945210-04-3ISBN 0-945210-04-3ISBN 0-945210-04-3ISBN 0-945210-04-3ISBN 0-945210-04-3

Thanks to the Arca Foundation, the NY FriendsGroup, and the Threshold Foundation for supportingthis project. UCP is a project of the Central AmericaEducation Fund, a tax-exempt non-profit educational

organization.

To the reader:There is a rich tradition of organizing

for peace and justice on U.S. college cam-puses, but too often students have no ac-cess to the wealth of experience and skillsaccumulated by previous generations ofactivists. Each year, hundreds of students“reinvent the wheel” by struggling tolearn basic activism skills from scratch.The purpose of this guidebook is to pro-vide a missing link, to get campus activistsof the 90s started more quickly, buildingupon the work of their predecessors andof students at other campuses.

We could have created a mammoth80-page encyclopedia on organizing, butlengthy guides already exist to hone theskills of organizing “experts.” We alsocould have created a guide on a single-is-sue, but it would quickly be outdated.

Instead, we decided to design a ba-sic, introductory guide to serve the thou-sands of student activists just gettingtheir feet wet. We have tried whereverpossible to avoid assumptions based onrace, gender, type of college, etc. to make

this guide useful to everyone. This guideis by no means the comprehensive or finalword on how to organize. It is not a blue-print for activism, but as a set of guide-lines and suggestions distilled from ourexperience. Since every situation is differ-ent, you will have to adapt the specifics toyour own campus and campus group. Ac-tivism is an ongoing experience of learn-ing, and we highly recommend you exploresome of the resources listed in the Bibliog-raphy, as well as constantly apply yourown experience to established principlesof organizing.

This Guide is intended for activistswho want to increase participation by andequality for all groups in society, and ad-dress the root causes of social, economic,and political injustice. It is not designedfor “new right” groups who want to pro-tect and reinforce the status quo, “sectar-ian” groups who demand allegiance onlyto their own ideology or dogma, or servicegroups who address symptoms with no in-terest in confronting root causes.

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Students protest aid cuts in Albany, 3/95Students protest aid cuts in Albany, 3/95Students protest aid cuts in Albany, 3/95Students protest aid cuts in Albany, 3/95Students protest aid cuts in Albany, 3/95

In a genuine democracy, peoplewould have a real voice in the decisionsaffecting their lives. Politics would be adynamic, active, creative process in whichpeople meaningfully participated. Govern-ments and corporations would be directlyaccountable to the people they affect.

Unfortunately, many of us do not feellike we have a voice in governing our soci-ety. We may be too busy to participate, orwe may lack information. We may thinkthat no one else feels the way we do. Weworry about what other people will say ifwe act, or whether we’ll jeopardize ourprospects for “success.” Our culturesteach us that women should defer to men,and our society teaches us that the peoplein charge are usually white. We are en-couraged only to sit in front of the TV,trust the “experts,” and once every fewyears vote for the lesser of two evils.

Despite all these obstacles, people doact. The changes that most improved ourlives were not gifts bestowed by the “ex-perts,” but the hard-won results of orga-nizing by ordinary people. The 40-hourwork week was not made by wealthy in-dustrialists, but by rank-and-file union or-ganizers sick of working 60 hour weeks forsubsistence wages; the vote — and rightsto property and abortion — were notgranted to women by men, but won by fe-male suffragists over many decades ofstruggle.

Our history books often emphasizethe “great men” who held positions ofpower and prominence. In fact, history ismade by all of us. Before Martin LutherKing, there was a legion of Black leaderswho stood against the oppression of theAfrican-American community. The large-scale, glamorous victories which we allhear about stood on the shoulders ofsmaller victories and the lessons of de-feats experienced by thousands ofgrassroots organizers.

When we act as individuals, our ac-tions may seem small and insignificant.But when we act collectively, anything ispossible.

Why work for peace and justice oncampus? Because the campus brings usinto physical and intellectual proximity

with others at a time when we are ques-tioning and formulating our ideas aboutthe world around us. Students of all racesand often from many different countrieslive together in dorms; working-class stu-dents will sit in class beside rich kids. In asociety where individuals are increasinglyisolated, the campus provides an unusualopportunity for discussion, organization,and community.

Not surprisingly, students have beenin the forefront of most major social move-ments. In the 1930s, students picketedwith striking workers; in the 1960s, theyopposed the Vietnam War and fought forcivil rights; in the 1980s, students op-posed U.S. military intervention in CentralAmerica.

While campus activism may concernissues or conditions which exist outsidethe campus, our colleges and universitiesare themselves political institutions whereinternal controversies mirror those in thelarger society. Do students have therights to free speech and assembly?Which students can afford to attend yourcampus? Who teaches? What subjectsare taught? How is the campus climatefor women and people of color? Askingthese questions can lead to more ques-tions about social justice and the meaning

of education, deepening our understand-ing of ourselves and society.

Colleges and universities are alsovery strategic arenas of power in our soci-ety. Research performed by professors isused by politicians and corporations inshaping policies and in developing weap-onry. University professors serve on cor-porate boards and as advisors to govern-ments. Our colleges support the dubiousactivities of many large corporations byinvesting billions of dollars in their stock.

The anti-Apartheid movement of the1980s, which involved tens of thousandsof students and faculty members, forcedover 150 universities to divest from com-panies doing business in South Africa andwas a part the world-wide movement thatcatapulted Nelson Mandela, the formerpolitical prisoner, to the South Africanpresidency.

Organizing on campus is not justplay-acting or a support effort for an“adult” organization, but a real contribu-tion to helping make a better and moredemocratic society.

Finally, many students will go on toother positions of influence — families,workplaces, and communities — wherethey can either perpetuate the status quoor fight for progressive change. Yourcampus organizing can make a differencefor years after you graduate.

Making the decision to participate inpublic life is no small thing. It demandscommitment, sacrifice, and an openness tochange. But the rewards are many: newskills, a sense of purpose, awareness ofhow our society operates, and a feeling ofcommunity that comes from working to-gether with others for a vision.

As one activist put it, “After I becamean activist, I wasn’t afraid of the worldanymore.”

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3

!�"����#�����������Join With An Existing Group, orStart your Own?

First, find out if there are any existingorganizations interested in peace work onyour campus. Check with your StudentActivities office, look for posters in thestudent union, and ask others if a peaceand justice group has recently been ac-tive.

If a group of progressive studentshas already been formed at your school,talk to some key members and find outwhat kinds of issues they work on. If theyseem politically compatible and open toyour ideas it may be easier to join withthem than to start a new group fromscratch. If that group is very large youcould start a spin-off group, or subcom-mittee. If there is no group that fits thebill, why not start your own?

Start Your Own GroupTo start a group of your own, first try

to find one or more like-minded people toshare in the initial work. Then advertise byposting flyers around campus and writingin the school paper. If you know studentsin other organizations, have them an-nounce your meeting at their own.Choose a location for your meeting that iseasily accessible, like a room in the stu-dent union, a café or a meeting hall. Youcan make the meeting open to all students,faculty, and members of the community.Or have your first meeting include a smallgroup of people you know and your sec-ond one be an “open house” meeting thatis built broadly. You may wish to choosea working name for the first meeting andthen let the group decide on its permanentname.

Know your CampusAre students at your school used to

taking part in political activities? Is yourcampus an elite private university, a resi-dential public university, or a commuterschool for part-time students? Howstrongly is your school linked to the mili-tary, and is there a strong right-wing pres-ence there? Activities that go over well atone school may not work at another.

Whatever your situation, it is helpfulto talk to other activists to learn what hasand has not worked. One suggestion is toinvte activists from even as far back 10 or

20 years back to come to campus to dis-cuss their experience with today’s activ-ists. Not everything they say will still ap-ply, but it’s likely that much will still betrue.

Don’t Exclude Potential AlliesMany groups are started by people

from similar backgrounds, and unknow-ingly may exclude people who do notcome from the same background. For ex-ample, low-income students who work inaddition to studying may not have time forfour-hour meetings. Try to reduce thenumber of long meetings, and definesmaller roles for students who may onlyhave 30 minutes a week to help out.

Define Your MissionThe mission of your group should be

located somewhere other than the insideof the founder’s head. The purposeshould be articulated so that the initialmembers will be comfortable. It should bedebated at your initial meetings to givegroup members a sense of ownership overgroup decisions. One way a group canfoster this ownership is to discuss and re-vise its mission at the beginning of eachacademic year. A mission should say, in1-2 paragraphs, who you represent, whatyou do, where you do it, and why you doit, and how you do it.

Prepare for the New SemesterMost campuses have an activities fair

or orientation week where established ac-tivities can set up tables to recruit newmembers from the incoming class. Be surethat you make the deadline for reserving atable, that you prepare an inviting display,and that your core of active members is

mobilized for this important recruitmentopportunity.

Get Recognition and Submit aBudget

Once you have gained official univer-sity recognition, you ought to take theirmoney. Some budget items you may wishto consider.

Educational Video Series.............Forum Publicity (posters)............Rally Publicity................................Rally Supplies (Placards, etc.).....Educational Flyers (2K copies)...Video Player/Film Rental..............Membership Mailings..................CCO Group Membership..............TOTAL...........................................

Always consult your student activi-ties office for some advice and guidelinesbefore seeking funding. Some schoolsmay let you add $1,000 or more to pay anoutside speaker. Be forewarned that somecampus administrations, states, and stu-dent governments have imposed restric-tions on funding “political” activity tolimit the political expression of studentgroups. For instance, if you are starting aCampus Greens or other political partygroup - your funding might be limited.

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Meeting as a group, on a regular ba-sis, will strengthen your organization.Meetings provide an opportunity to dis-cuss plans and needs. They should beboth fun and effective. Below are a fewkey concepts that will help plan effectivemeetings.

Meeting Structure & AgendaSetting

A key to a good meeting is a workableagenda. Without an agenda, the discus-sion is likely to be unfocused and preventprogress. It is difficult to make decisionsif your group’s “train of thought” is inter-rupted. You may also run out of time,leaving individuals making decisionswhich ought to be made by the group.

An agenda should be created by sev-eral people; and it is best if planning oc-curs near the end of the previous meeting,when your group is thinking about its fu-ture needs. By planning ahead, you canadvertise the main attraction of the meet-ing and win new members — especially ifit will be a video, faculty presentation,speaker, free food, etc.

Once you have brainstormed a list ofitems, group them into categories. Maketime for business items, new ideas, an-nouncements, and discussion items. Youwill want to allow adequate time for all ofthese items. Try to limit your meeting toless than one and a half hours, leavingtime to plan for the next meetings and toassign responsibilities.

Begin with quick decisions, and allowprogress to be made on new items withoutletting them postpone major business.This meeting model may or may not workfor your group. For example, if an emer-gency arises, you won’t have time to setthe agenda before the meeting. We en-courage you to discuss and change themodel to suit specific situations.

Decision-Making OptionsDecisions of the group are strongest

when made unanimously. A split vote onan issue may leave those on the losingend upset. However, while it is a goodidea to strive for consensus, the need fortotal consensus can paralyze your group.One person will be able to obstruct deci-sions.

C.T. Butler, in a highly recommendedguidebook called “On Conflict and Con-sensus” (see Bibliography) encouragespeace and justice groups to come withinone vote of consensus. Other organiza-tions use Robert’s Rule of Order (whicheverone should know equally well, other-wise they can be used by a few to ma-nipulate a meeting), Majority Voting, orModified Consensus Models. If yourgroup is not in favor of consensus, look atthe rules of other decision making struc-tures.

A “facilitator” guides the process ofbuilding consensus. Choose a facilitatorand a note-taker at the very beginning ofyour meeting. A facilitator makes it pos-sible for others to conduct the discussion,but refrains from stating his/her own opin-ions and so should refrain from this role ifs/he has a lot of input. Beware of astrong chair who dominates your meet-ings.

Proposal initiation varies from groupto group. Some allow proposals to be in-troduced by individuals; others collec-tively brainstorm and present proposalsbased on an intensive discussion of ideas.Once you present a proposal, here is apossible model for decision making:

1) Introduce the proposal.2) As a group, talk about the proposal, its

strengths, weaknesses, relation to yourorganization, etc.

3) Improve the proposal as ideas comeabout. Agree upon these as they comeup.

4) Take a trial vote, if it is unanimous, theproposal is approved. Now move on toplanning the logistics of the action,events, or initiative just passed.

5) People who object, if not unanimous,should state their concerns.

A true consensus model encourages theproposal to be modified until there is nomore than one unhappy person, but in large

organizations or in newly constitutedgroups this can be very inefficient. Your or-ganization must decide how much supportwill be needed to approve proposals. It isbest to use the beginning stages of consen-sus for any decision. How to deal with dis-sent is a group decision that you shouldfeel comfortable using for all meetings.

Encouraging DemocraticParticipation

The facilitator is also responsible forobserving the process in the room. If at-tention is not paid to who is speaking,your peace and justice group may be con-trolled by the input of a vocal few. This isa situation that you want to avoid. If afew people dominate the facilitator canimplement some of these devices to makesure everyone’s input is heard:

• Only accept comments from those whohave not spoken

• Have a “go-round.” Go around the roomand ask every person to state an opin-ion on a key question

• Alternate between men and women, ifthis is possible and applicable

• Take “straw polls”• Ask if people need a break• Break up into smaller groups and then

report back to the whole• Have another person keep time so that

you can focus on facilitating

Be sure to rotate the facilitator and note-taker so that all members of your grouppick up these skills; every year you couldhold a training so that new members canmore easily pick up these and other skills.

[Note: For more information on consen-sus decision-making, we highly recom-mend “On Conflict & Consensus,” listedin the Bibliography.]

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7 Steps in Organizing Events1) Setting Goals: Public events are

often the result of inspired brainstormingsessions, but when the dust settles, adifficult question must be asked: whatare our goals for this event? Your groupshould set concrete goals for attendanceand intended impact. This will give di-rection to your planning and a criteria forevaluating the event.

2) Planning: Now that you have anidea and a set of goals, you should de-fine your event. Why are you doing it?Who is it for? Where is it? When is it?After thorough planning, you may wantto revise your goals.

3) Dividing up responsibilities:Make a list of everything that will needto be done and divide up responsibilitiesamong members of the group: getting arally permit, reserving rooms, filling outforms for student government, makingfood, etc. Core members and leadersshould be sure to delegate tasks, so thatone small clique doesn’t end up mo-nopolizing all the power and burningthemselves out. If possible, devise asystem to back up people who don’t fol-

Public events are one way that you canraise consciousness around a specific is-sue, cause discussion of your issue on cam-pus, broadcast opposition to a governmentor corporate policy, or win new recruits.While there are many kinds of events —panel discussions, film showings, outdoorrallies, benefit concerts, speakers, etc. —they all demand the same general principlesof planning and execution.

Panel Discussions are excellent waysto generate dialogue around a specific is-sue. A panel discussion is typically a seriesof invited speakers who each make 5-10minute presentations on a topic, then takequestions from each other and the audience.It is important for panel discussions to bewell-framed and topical. Invite professorsat your school and prominent local activists.

Film Showings are excellent ways toeducate current activists and to recruituninvolved students. Show political docu-mentaries or feature films with a socially-conscious theme, either on a TV or, if

available, your campus movie theater. Thefilm could be used as a build up to a largeraction (be sure to announce the action be-fore and after the film starts). You can alsoorder pizza and invite people to stay afterthe film to discuss it.

Band benefits are both greatfundraising events and a way to reach outto new constituencies. The important ruleof thumb with band benefits is to plan tomake much more than you invested. Try toget everything donated: performancespace, sound equipment, bands, food. If aclub owner or musician is reluctant to do-nate an evening, then rap with them aboutthe important work that you are doing andhow social justice groups can’t functionwithout money. Tell them that it’s whatthey can do for the movement, which is thetruth. Afterwards, thank the bands andowners, and offer to take them out to dinnerso they will be receptive to working withyou in the future. During the show, be sureto schedule short and punchy political

speeches while the bands are setting up,and make a pitch to raise more money, butremember that people are there to have fun.If you can, display a large banner behindthe bands that advertises the name of yourgroup and the issue you are raising moneyfor.

Informational Pickets can be used tokeep an issue in the news and to reach outto people involved in a particular institutionor business (e.g., picketing outside of aweapons plant will enable you to talk to theemployees). All you need is a dozen ormore participants with signs and leaflets,who are willing to walk in circles for an hour,two hours, or all day. Sometimes, it is bestto work in shifts. Consult with a lawyer orexperienced activist to find out the locallaws that regulate picketing. Hold signs,pass out literature, but most of all, talk topasserby in a nonthreatening and informa-tive way. If your picket is part of a boycotteffort, then be persistent, regular, and cre-ative, to keep the boycott target off-balanceand pressured.

Outdoor Rallies can garner consider-able attention for your issue through themedia, bring new people out of the wood-work, and empower people already in-volved in an issue. A large and militant rallywill make the powers-that-be very nervous,and therefore more accountable. All youneed to organize a rally is a few people whohave something meaningful to say, and amicrophone. In some locations, you mayneed to get a rally permit; look into it andget one well in advance of the rally itself.Rallies work best if you can mix substantivespeeches with music and participatory exer-cises to loosen up the crowd (“What do wewant?” “Tuition Freeze!” “When do wewant it?” “Now!”). You can schedule andadvertise several speakers in advance, thenfollow with an open-mic discussion, or youcan just stick with one speaker schedule.Remember to circulate a sign-up sheet; besure to announce your next meeting morethan once! Be sure that representation ofwomen and people of color on your speak-ers’ list at least matches that of your cam-pus. Ask other activists, or the women’sstudies program, or your chaplain’s office ifyou need suggestions for potential speak-ers.

low through with their responsibilities.4) Logistics, organizing, and net-

working: Reserve rooms and get per-mits well in advance; make sure thatspeakers know what they will be speak-ing on; arrange transportation for par-ticipants. Ask other organizations onyour campus to endorse the event orhelp to organize it. This will build sup-port for your action and broaden its im-pact.

5) Outreach/Publicity: See pages9 and 11 of this guide for Publicity andMedia suggestions

6) Last minute preparation: Whatneeds to be done on the day of theevent? Make sure that a designatedgroup of activists know what they needto do: calling the media, microphone,setup/ cleanup, literature/donation/signup table, food, etc.

7) Evaluation: This step is some-times skipped because of exhaustion,but it is important for the core organizersto sit down and engage in self-criticism:What did we do right? What could wedo better? This will build the cohesive-ness of your group and allow you to im-prove your public events over time.

6

�%���������������The previous section of this guide

provides an introduction to organizingevents. Holding good events is a veryeducational and rewarding activity in it-self, but is not all there is to organizing.How can you plan out your action eachsemester for maximum impact? Can youdesign your initial activities to prepare thecampus for later events? Can you antici-pate and respond to any backlash? Canyou measure your success? You will bebetter able to do all of these things if yourevents are mapped out as part of a cam-paign.

A campaign is a series of activities(tactics) designed to achieve medium andlong-term goals. Campaigns are morelikely to be successful if your entire grouphas an opportunity to be involved in theplanning process. To share ownership inthe planning process, we must adopt somecommon terminology when talking aboutour campaign organizing.

A goal is something your groupwants to achieve. An example of a goal isgetting your school to freeze tuition, orgetting 1,000 students to sign a petition.Short term goals are things which you cando within a month, like obtaining the peti-tion signatures. Anotherexample of a short-termgoal is to be allowed toconstruct a shanty-townon campus without inter-ference from your adminis-tration.

Tactics are the toolsyou use to meet yourgoals. Doing a petitiondrive is a tactic. Obtaining1,000 signatures is a goal.Holding a band benefit isa tactic. Raising $500 is agoal.

Tactics can be very small things too,like postering, leafletting, showing amovie, or sending a letter to the school pa-per.

The distinction between goals andtactics can be confusing because you mayneed to achieve small goals in order to em-ploy certain tactics. For example, youmight choose the construction of ashantytown as a tactic toward achievingthe goal of educating your campus about

the conditions of poverty many peopleface each day. You can’t just go out alonewith a pile of lumber and start buildinghowever, because many people, includingthe campus police, might question or op-pose what you are doing. So (unless thereare 1,000 people in your group) you mustfirst achive the goal of getting studentsand the administration to understand oraccept your decision to build theshantytown.

So you might choose the tactic ofsending a letter signed by 10 different stu-dent organizations to your college presi-dent urging that the shantytown construc-tion be allowed. However, before you cansend such a letter, you will need to meet agoal of getting 10 student organizations tosign on to it.

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We could break this down even fur-ther (some important groups might be re-luctant to sign on or would need to take a

vote so you would usetactics to convince themor you would go aheadwithout their endorse-ment). But let’s stophere.

The point is that so-cial change is not instantand your organizing doesnot occur in a vacuum, soyou have to come up witha plan that will build sup-port for what you wantover time. And you mayneed to be flexible, be-

cause hurdles may be placed in your pathby your opponents. When you are figur-ing out this plan you are strategizing.Your strategy is the approach you take tomeeting your medium and long-term goals.It is the blueprint for your campaign.

Ideas for StrategizingYou may wish to set aside a few hours tostrategize at a time other than your regular

meeting — perhaps a Saturday afternoon.Some ideas:• Using “butcher paper” (big sheets of

brown paper) or large newsprint andsome markers, conduct a brainstormingsession to identify your medium andlong-term goals. Then come up with alist of tactics for achieving those goals.You may wish to use a common brain-storming model, such as the StrategyChart developed by the Midwest Acad-emy (see Bibliography).

• After you narrow down the list of goalsto a few you can work on in the next se-mester or two, make a timeline, includingevents beyond your control (springbreak, holidays, election day, etc.), ac-tions and events you have planned, andall preparations and deadlines leadingup to them. Adjust your timeline tomake it realistic and to maximize your ef-fectiveness.

• With the timeline in front of your entiregroup, this is a perfect time to delegatetasks, projects, and responsibilitiesamong your members. Make sure thatsomeone records everything on paperso that people confirm what they signedup to do.

During the campaign:• Periodically review timeline and revise if

necessary.After the campaign:• Look back at your goals, tactics, and

timeline and do a thorough group evalu-ation. Get written comments from ev-eryone who was involved and evenfrom some observers. Save this evalua-tion and the charts. Review them whenyou plan a new campaign. An organiza-tion that doesn’t learn from its paststrategies keeps on making the samemistakes.

To anticipate the opposition’s actions:• Pretend you are them and hold a strat-

egy session from their perspective.How would you effectively counteryour own campaign? Identify weak-nesses and adjust your own strategyaccordingly.

Thinking and planning strategically canmake the difference between ho-hum cam-paigns that get no attention and dynamic,creative campaigns that excite people, buildyour organization, and create real change.

7

Most students don’t realizethey are often legallyentitled to muchinformation, under theFreedom of InformationAct and other laws.

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Sources of informationabout your schoolLocal County Courthouse

City Assessor’s Office

Treasurer’s Office

Sponsored Research or Grants andContracts office

Neighborhood Groups

Registry of Deeds

School Newspaper Archives

Alumni Office

Internal Revenue Service

National Center for Money and Politics

What information you can findabout your schoolList of lawsuits against your school

Property owned by your school and its staff

Investment portfolio; university budget

Listing of research contracts on campus

Activists with 20-year history of the community

Property transactions made by your school

Names of activists on campus 10-30 years ago whom you can invite to speak to your groupNames of high donors to your school

Salaries of top university officials

Political contributions made by professors

He who controls the present controls thepast. He who controls the past controlsthe future. — George Orwell, 1984

In our peace or justice activism, weare often accused of naivete or idealism.Progressive people are dismissed as “emo-tional” and “uninformed,” even when weare articulate and knowledgeable on nu-merous issues. Meanwhile, the powersthat be are often portrayed as objectivepurveyors of truth and fact.

Much of what we see in the media iswritten by those with money and power.How we perceive the world is largely de-termined by how such media portray it. Itis difficult to call attention to problemswhen those responsible for them are ableto frame the discussion around them.

One essential tool of activists is re-search. By doing research, we can exposewhat’s going on behind closed doors. Wecan pressure those in power through suchexposure. And we can build support forour cause by showing people the factsthey wouldn’t otherwise see and demon-strating our credibility.

Research can be as simpleas going to the school library orclipping news paper articles.You can get an amazing amountof information just by asking in-stitutions for data. For example,if your administration wants toraise tuition, call them up andask them to send you the factsbehind the increase, includinginformation on financial aid,teacher salaries, and invest-ments.

If you go to a public univer-sity, this information should beeasy to obtain. If the adminis-tration denies you the informa-tion you need, then this be-comes a political issue and can

be made part of your campaign: “what arethey hiding?”

For campus organizing, it may be use-ful to answer some questions about yourschool. The answers may help you under-stand “where the money is coming from,”“who pulls the strings” on your campus,and what issues your group might choose

to work on.In many ways, information is power,

and being able to access information is anessential democratic right. Getting this in-formation can be very difficult. Peoplewho benefit from withholding certain factswill often try to prevent you from gettingit, such as by ignoring your requests.

Most students do no realize that theyare often legally entitled to many recordsand data, through the Freedom of Informa-tion Act and other laws. You may need tofile Freedom of Information Act requests(FOIA’s) to get certain documents . Thereare several manuals that will help you un-derstand this process, such as “Manualof Corporate Investigation,” “Tapping Of-

ficials’ Secrets,” “Research MethodologyGuide,” “Raising Hell,” “The Military inYour Backyard,” and “The Opposition Re-search Handbook.” Please see the bibli-ography for more information about theseguides.

Filing FOIA’s can be a long process,but can yield amazing results. For in-stance, you can find out how universityresearch is being used by corporations orthe government, how much certain alumnior corporations are donating, what pesti-cides and chemicals your universities use,what animal testing they are engaged in,how much your administrators are paid,etc.

Once you shed light on thewheelings and dealings of campus offi-cials, they may find it more difficult tocarry out their regressive agenda or to un-dermine yours. By doing and publicizingsuch research, your movement will also ex-pand its own power, gaining both confi-dence and members. Activists have usedthis information to win successful cam-paigns in the past. For example, studentactivists in Arizona and Michigan wereable, through FOIA information, to stopthe investing of their universities into theconstruction of a telescope on Mount Gra-ham, on sacred Native American land inArizona.

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Effective publicity is essential to the suc-cess of any event or campaign. Since thepower student groups have relies onpeople, getting the word out is one of themost important things you will do. It re-quires a well-thought-out strategy andplan.

Strategic Considerations

VISIBILITY: People should know aboutyour event or campaign even if they’recompletely oblivious to everything elsegoing on at your school.

SIMPLICITY: Keep your message short,understandable, and simple. Peopleshould get a good idea of what you’redoing with just a brief description.

LANGUAGE: Don’t use jargon, slogans,or acronyms without defining them. Acomplex issue can be explained in waysthat even the most apathetic can under-stand.

POSITIVITY: Progressive groups are of-ten criticized for over-emphasizing thenegative. In your publicity (as well asyour activism in general), balance critiquewith positive alternatives.

CREATIVITY: Much publicity on cam-puses is dull, dull, dull. Be creative! Onegroup put messages about their cam-paign in fortune cookies and handedthem out. Colorful, visual, irreverent, in-teractive, 3-dimensional, eye-catchingpublicity is more effective. But don’t letcreativity obscure your message.

REPETITION: People should hear or readabout your event at least seven times.No kidding. After the first few times,people who might not otherwise come orparticipate will become interested.

REPUTATION: You do publicity both foryour event and for your group in general.There is nothing wrong or shamefulabout promoting your group by clearlylisting your group’s name, a contact per-son the time of your next meeting, howpeople can get involved, etc.

Publicity Ideas

Personal Contact/Word of Mouth– Per-sonal contact is one of the best (andcheapest) means of publicity. Each ofyour members can bring at least a half

dozen people. Ask professors to an-nounce events in class or to let you do so.

Knowing the Regulations – Most schoolshave designated areas where you can postthings and procedures for tabling. Knowthe regulations and the penalties. Someschools impose heavy fines for violationsand may even rescind funding or officialrecognition. If you post off-campus, thelocal community’s laws apply. This is notto say that you must always accept suchrules. If the rules are so draconian thatthey infringe on your freedom of speechyou may want to start a campaign to chal-lenge them. If you are challenging yourschool’s administration, you may findyourself the target of politically-motivatedselective enforcement of such rules.

Poster Design — Keep it short, simple,loud, and eye-catching. Make your mainmessage BIG— people should be able tosee it from 20 feet away. Make the rest ofyour text SHORT— people should be ableto read it in one minute. Keep it visuallyconsistent— more than one font or morethan two colors is distracting. Don’t makeit too CROWDED— by filling every spaceon the page. In fact, leaving blank spacecalls attention to the text. Pictures andgraphics can really add to a poster if theyare clear and powerful. Don’t forget toclearly lay out the time, date, and place ofthe event.

Where and when to poster — High-trafficareas such as dining halls, campus cen-ters, etc. are good places. You will becompeting for space and attention withevery other group on campus. Don’t limityour posting to one area of campus or justhigh traffic areas. There are many goodspots to poster where you have a “captiveaudience” which has nothing to do butread your poster. Bathroom stalls, cafete-ria lines, and bus stops are a few suchplaces. On most campuses, bulletinboards are cleared of posters regularly.Put your posters up in remote areas sev-eral weeks in advance. Re-poster high-traffic areas several times leading up to theevent, with a final blitz a day or two be-fore. (see “How to do Leaflets...” in theBibliography).

Leafletting — Leafletting a busy intersec-tion, mail room or dining hall gets informa-

tion to a large number of people. Leafletsare good for publicizing an immediate andurgent event, like an emergency rally, andfor distributing info to passersby at dem-onstrations, or actions. One person candistribute several hundred leaflets in anhour. You will need quite a few andshould probably make them 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4-page size to save money and paper. In theleaflet itself, ask people to pass it on tosomeone else or post it. Have more thanone person leafletting at once. Be readyfor rejections, as many people will ignoreyou, and even make snide remarks.

Newspapers – You can put ads in yourschool newspaper, but the price is usuallyhigh, and such ads are usually not as ef-fective as posters. There are other waysto use your school newspaper for public-ity. Many school papers sell muchcheaper classified ads. Many also havecalendars of what’s going on around cam-pus, which list events for free or cheaply.Letters to the editor and even guest edito-rials are a good way to publicize, if youdon’t make it a completely apparent self-promotion. One group ran classified adsthat pretended to be a dialogue betweentwo lovelorn people flirting with eachother. Everyone read and followed thesaga. Some school papers are so starvedfor news that they will even do an articleabout your upcoming event.

Radio– Many radio stations, especiallycollege stations, run free public serviceannouncements. Send them an event no-tice or find out how to do a PSA tapeyourself. Encourage DJs to play them dur-ing their shows.

Phone Trees — When you want to mobi-lize your supporters, a phone tree is an ex-tremely useful and efficient tool. You canstart a phone tree committee by passingout a sign-up sheet at a general meeting.From this list, elect a phone tree coordina-tor (usually an officer or a steering com-mittee member, because they will mostlikely be aware of what is going on) who isin responsible for triggering the phonetree. The phone tree coordinator orga-nizes the information to be disseminated,then calls phone tree committee members,who each have a list of people to call withinformation about the next meeting or

9

event. For meetings, you only notifymembers of your group; for large publicevents, you could assign each core mem-ber to notify 5-10 additional supporters toturn out a really large crowd. The phonetree coordinator should be sure to checkwith committee members to see if theymade their calls, and be prepared to takeup the slack.Chalking — Chalking on the sidewalks isas visible as spray painting, and it washesright off. Groups have used chalked bodyoutlines to publicize human rights abusesor oppose military action. Chalkingdoesn’t require any paper and the wordscan be as big as you like. Rules differ fromcampus to campus on whether chalking isallowed. Campus police may harass you ifthey see you in the act. Try to keep your

chalking on the ground, as it doesn’t washoff as readily on walls and the chalk cancause damage if it stays on a long time.

“Midnight Redecorating” — Midnight re-decorating is a term for activities done lateat night because they may prove unpopu-lar with some authorities, such as spray-painting, rubber stamps, Cow chalk (semipermanent) or wheat pasting posters.Spray-painting can be done with heavyposter board cut stencils of a slogan orgraphic, or it can be done freehand. Stick-ers placed on phone booths, elevator ceil-ings, water fountains, stairwells, and “Uni-versity Property” decals are difficult to re-move. Note: we do not advocate indoorwheat-pasting, which can seriously dam-age your group’s reputation; outdoor

wheatpasting is far lest destructive, butstill may put you at risk of arrest.

• To make stickers, you can purchase 100sheets of 8 1/2 x 11” sticker paper forabout $20. Then, using a heavy-dutycopy machine and paper cutter, youcan make stickers — usually 3 or 4 perpage.

• To make wheat paste, mix: wallpaperglue + flour + water; apply with a paintbrush or wallpaper brush.

• To make “spray glue,” mix: 1/3 partsElmers glue + 2/3 parts water in a plantspray bottle; apply with rubbergloves.

Information TablesMost campuses designate an area where student organizationscan set up tables to distribute literature and recruit members. Manyactivists think that tabling is a boring ritual consisting of a stack ofliterature on a table with a person sitting behind it doing homeworkor staring into space. Nothing could be further from the truth.Tabling must be active and dynamic in order to yield results.

• Table when you have something for people to do, and not justfor the sake of tabling. At the activities midway, it’s O.K. to justask for new members, but the rest of the time, try to get people todo something specific like sign a petition, buy a ticket for afundraiser, write a letter, or sign up to work on a specificcampaign. Always be sure to have a sign-up sheet available(see Sustaining your Membership and Support Base) to buildmembership.

• Keep a schedule of who is to table, and have a tabling coordina-tor reconfirm them the night before! Make sure people knowwhere to pick up the tabling box in the morning, and where todrop it off (a secure place if you collect money) in the afternoon.

• Try to table where there will be a large concentration ofpeople. Dining halls near meal time, Student Unions or Cen-ters, and films and events attract a lot of people in a short time.

• It’s best to have two or more people tabling together, preferablypairing less experienced people with veteran activists. Haveone of them work the flow of people and draw people to otheractivists sitting at the table.

• Training is invaluable. Write and distribute sample raps andpractice with role plays. This gives people confidence andprepares them to deal with tough situations.

• Display a banner with your organization’s name to developrecognition, a sign and flyers advertising your next meeting andupcoming events.

• If you are collecting letters, be prepared with paper, pens,envelopes, a box for donations to help with mailing costs.Depending on your focus, have a list of US and state legislators

or of appropriate university trustees and administrators(check with a librarian). Collect letters there to ensurethat they get written and sent.

• Be friendly and make eye contact. Entice passersby byasking a brief question to involve the person a dia-logue, such as “Do you want to help stop ROTC dis-crimination?”

• Know when to call it quits. Don’t get caught up with areactionary or someone who just wants to talk. Givethem literature, set a future meeting, invite them to anevent, but don’t waste your time while other potentialactivists pass you by.

• Clipboards are your friends. They allow you to get outfrom behind the table and ask people to sign up to dosomething, whether it be making a phone call, going to arally, or joining your campus coalition.

• Having a VCR and a TV showing an appropriate docu-mentary (at low volume!) at your table is a good way toattract people.

• Giving away pins or stickers is a terrific way to buildvisibility and boost morale.

• Do not limit tabling to campus. Tabling in the commu-nity will: put you in touch with a wide range of peopleand views, and expose peoplein the community toideas they won’t normally hear in the mainstream me-dia. By meeting progressive people and activists whomight attend some of your meetings and events, youbuild essential links between your campus and thecommunity.

[Tabling tips adapted from Committee In Solidaritywith the People of El Salvador Campus OrganizingGuide.]

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The impact of any event or actionyour group plans can be greatly enhancedby media attention. Larger events relevantto the surrounding community can reachan audience of hundreds of thousands ifcovered by a TV station or daily paper.Media attention can put you in contactwith people in your community workingon similar issues who will lend support.

A good rule of thumb is to spend 10%of your organizing time on attractingpress. For small events, you need spendonly a few minutes on press outreach.Send a personal note to an editor youknow at your campus paper and follow upwith a few calls. For large events, con-sider the likelihood of coverage from eachnews source on your media list beforewasting paper and time. Remember thatsome TV stations have no news on week-ends, that daily newspapers run small is-sues on Saturdays and Mondays, and that“big name” reporters schedule their as-signments as much as two weeks in ad-vance.

Suggestions for attracting themedia to larger campus events• Make a list of places to send press re-leases. Include the “Assignment Desk” atall local TV news stations (includingcable) and daily newspapers. Include the“news editor” at key campus publications,local weekly papers, and radio stationswith big news departments. Also includethe “News Desk” and “Photo desk” at thenearest offices of Associated Press andUPI. Finally, add any “education journal-ists” specifically assigned to cover eventsat your campus as well as weekly TV newsshows. Call in advance to get the namesof these people. For each outlet, includeits name, address, phone number, and faxnumber in your list.• 10 days before your event, mail a pressadvisory to weekly papers or TV showsand follow up in 3 days.• Mail your press release to the entire listso that it will arrive 3 business days beforeyour event and call them 2 days before theevent. Use a formal, upbeat style. Don’tread a long pitch. Pause frequently, sothat the reporter will have a chance to giveyou feedback. That way you can tellwhether he or she is actually considering

covering your event. Make sure you takeneat notes on whether the reaction youget is “no way,” “maybe,” or “probably.”• The day of the event, call each mediaoutlet (except weeklies) in their first hourof business for the day (5:30am for radio,7am for TV, 8am for daily newspapers. Ifthey don’t know about the event, offer tofax them the press release and make sureyou have access to a fax machine. Writedown those you expect to come.• At your event, staff a table marked“PRESS.” Hand each reporter literatureand sign them in so that you can find outlater if they run a story.• Befriend and cultivate good relationswith the media. If possible, designate oneperson to follow up with reporters whoseemed particularly receptive.

Press Release SuggestionsA press release should include the ra-

tionale for an event, what you are trying tochange, and all relevant information thatyou would want to be considered by ajournalist, but keep it brief. Include yourstrongest facts or stances. Reporters mayuse your exact words and text of your re-lease. One page with all event informationis standard. At the top of your press re-lease, include the date you want the infor-mation to first be announced (usually theday of the event, never later). Immediately

below, include the names of at least twopress spokespeople, one of which must beavailable during business hours. Rightbelow that, write the title, time, date, loca-tion, directions, and names of participantsin your event.

Have a group of people has a reviewthe drafts of the press release. This groupwill be able to divide the work of followupcalls.

The body of your release should bewritten in clear simple English, with shortsentences so that it could be read on theair. The first sentence should describe thewhole event: “Two hundred students ral-lied today at the University of Buffalo todemand a 50% reduction in their tuition,which is now $15,000 per year.” The restof the release should explain everythingso simply and clearly that your aunt oryour grandfather would understand whatyou were trying to accomplish.

What about press conferences?A press conference is a formal presen-

tation of your case designed exclusively forthe press. The key question to ask whendeciding whether to have a press confer-ence is, “Will reporters come?” You will bebest off when there is some other big event(perhaps organized by the university) towhich your press conference can serve as aform of “counterdemonstration.” Or whena big story that has been brewing for weeksor months finally breaks, such as the re-sults of a campus referendum. A pressconference announcement only needs tobe one page long, usually with the informa-tion about time, location, topic, partici-pants, etc. spelled out in outline form.Make sure reporters receive it two days be-fore the event. Followup calls should bemade to key reporters and then on themorning of the event.

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To maintain a strong organization it isimportant to continually involve those in-terested in your group or issue, and toconstantly reach out to potential support-ers who might not be able to be directly in-volved. Building a base of passive andactive supporters is essential to the suc-cess of any long-term campaign.

New Member Outreach andRecruitment

Outreach and recruitment should becentral to all of your events and activities.You should provide opportunities forpeople to become informed about an issueand show support. Often new people arejust curious about your group and needsome extra encouragement before they de-cide to get more involved.

The best way to recruit new membersis one-on-onecontact. Afteryou talk to a po-tential member atan event, tabling,or door-to-doorwork, follow upwith a phone call.Find out whatthey are inter-ested in and givethem easy waysto get involved.With a commitment to recruiting and nur-turing new members, your group will retainpeople who stick around to become lead-ers in the organization. You also continu-ally reinvigorate your group with newpeople and energy as old members leaveor graduate.

Building a Broad Support BaseOnce you have a core group, you can

do outreach on a much larger scale.Large-scale outreach involves going outand finding those who are interested inyour issue rather than waiting for them tocome to you. Outreach on a large scalecan involve campus-wide events, petitiondrives, or actual door to door soliciting.The idea is not to get everyone to becomean active member of your group (whichmight be unwieldy), but to develop a largebase of support who can provide funds

and be helpful in a time of crisis.For example, the Campaign for Afford-

able Rutgers Education (CARE) “can-vassed” Rutgers dormitories four nightsper week during the fall semester of 1991.Over 20 volunteer canvassers went door-to-door giving a basic rap about tuition in-creases and university democracy, andthen presented each student with a peti-tion demanding a tuition freeze. Theywent on to describe CARE and present thestudent with a membership form and askfor a $2 donation. Many more studentswere willing to sign the petition than signup as a member. CARE was able to build amembership of 700, and an even largerphone list to be used during emergencies.They also identified those members whowere interested in coming to meetings.The money was used to send members a

bi-monthly news-letter. By dividingup this list amongdozens of volun-teers, CARE wasable to phone-bank its memberswhenever an eventor demonstrationwas scheduled.

The steps inbuilding supportare basically the

same regardless of your initial size: 1) dosomething that gets the attention of thecommunity in which you are working,such as a rally or door-to-door canvass-ing; 2) keep track of those who show inter-est with databases and phone trees; and3) follow up on your contacts and getthem involved. By reaching out to all oncampus who may be interested, you candevelop the strength to win concessionsfrom the administration or other people inpower.

Keeping Track of SupportersIt is helpful if you compile all the

names of people who have signed in atyour activities into a “master list.” Youmay want to divide the list into three sec-tions: 1) active members who come tomeetings, 2) volunteers for specific taskswho do not attend meetings, and 3) sup-porters will come to rallies or events.

If your group is large, you may wantto assign the task of maintaining yourmembership list to a member who has acomputer and is familiar with spreadsheetor database software like Excel, Access orFilemaker. For example, you could put the“master list” into a table containing eachperson’s first name, last name, address (2lines), city, state, zip code, home phone,work phone, year of expected graduation,living group, level of interest, comments(explain where the name came from, whatkind of work they like to do), and datethey were interested.

Once the information is in your com-puter, you can print out mailing labels (per-haps sorted by living group) and phonelists sorted by last name and first name.

You can periodically delete peoplewho leave school, especially during thesummer. In September, the vitality of yourgroup will depend on your ability to trackdown key members. If you lose people,perhaps you can find them through e-mail,the registrar’s office, or by asking around.

Other Tips on Keeping PeopleInformed and Involved1) It is good to send out minutes or a

newsletter to keep less-active support-ers involved and up-to-date.

2) Have social events as well as rallies tokeep less active members who justwant to support your issue involvedand connected.

3) Involve people in a long-term planning,so that they can feel some “owner-ship” of the organization. Invite newmembers to retreats and bull-sessionsabout the future of the organization.

4) Hold regular meetings at regular loca-tions, so that peripheral members canrely on your organization and knowwhere to go if they want to get more in-volved.

5) Write a constitution and operatingrules that everybody can see and un-derstand. Sticking to the rules thatyour group writes for itself will enablepeople to expect consistency and makedecisions about the group.

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Activists have used direct actions tospur significant social change, such as theoccupation of the all-white lunch countersduring the sixties, the Montgomery BusBoycott, the anti-Vietnam and Gulf Warprotests, and the American Indian Move-ment occupation of Wounded Knee.Many famous activists have participatedin civil disobedience, including the Rever-end Martin Luther King, Ghandi and RosaParks. These actions have brought atten-tion to many injustices and led to thegrowth of progressive movements.

So what is “direct action”? Direct ac-tions are primarily defined by theirconfrontative, public, disruptive and pos-sibly illegal nature. They can be donewith large or small groups of people. Theyare most effective when carefully planned,when they focus public attention on injus-tice in a compelling way, and when otheravenues for change have been exhausted.Before your campus group engages in di-rect action, carefully consider: will an ac-tion advance or set back your cause? Willyou have broad support? Can you con-vince others that it is necessary? Are youready to handle the difficulties of anybacklash? Let everyone talk about theirideas, fears, and past experiences. Beforedoing any action you should refer to otheraction guides mentioned in the bibliogra-phy. If after all of this you still agree thatdirect action is needed, then here are a fewguidelines you may wish to follow:

1) Focus the Action. What aspect of yourissue do you want to highlight? On whomdo you wish to focus public attention? Ifyou want to oppose, a law like Prop 187,do you pick a state house or a senator’soffice? Make sure that any building youplan to visit will be open, that any peopleyou want to address will be in, and thatyou have mapped out where all doors, ex-its and offices are. Refrain from unproduc-tive actions.

2) Timing an Action. Don’t do actionsthat aren’t timed right for maximum effec-tiveness. You may want to spend yourtime building a strong enough base for asuccessful action later. If you are in nego-tiations, this isn’t a time for direct action,

unless negotiators are stalling on your re-quests and giving you problems. Stu-dents asking their university to endorsethe United Farm Worker’s Grape Boycottdemonstrated after the university refusedto meet with them, ignored scientific dataon pesticides, and failed to give a state-ment as promised. Organizing on an issuethe public knows little about can backfire.Organizing around a long standing com-munity problem will increase your num-bers, media coverage, community support,and chance for success.

3) Compile Facts. Research your opposi-tion and your issue for education andpublicity. This can take time, especiallyfor Freedom of Information Act requests.

4) Know Your Rights. It is imperative toknow your legal rights and possiblepenalities. Consult a sympathetic lawyer.A few simple legal points you shouldknow are: you absolutely have the rightto leaflet and you do not always have tohave a permit.

5) Event Planning & Preparation. Talkabout your goal, how long to stay, andwhether to disburse or risk arrest once au-thorities arrive. Pick a date, time, location,and location for your action. Keep in mindthat many effective actions are perfectlylegal. If you plan to occupy streets orwant to use public facilities, try filing for apermit with the proper police department.Do not meet at the action site, but at an al-ternative site nearby where you can waituntil your numbers are sufficient to moveto the action location. What will you do atthe action? Prepare chant sheets, get abullhorn, and ask people to speak or do askit. to arrive. Bring banners, signs, flyersand food, beverages and blankets to keepwarm. Have enough events to fill your ac-tion time.

6) Network. Talk to organizations whosupport your work and who may join youraction. Ask progressive media to coverthe event. Do extensive outreach to gainmore support. Call people with direct ac-tion experience for advice or a short pre-sentation or training. This will makepeople who are inexperienced with actionsfeel more assured and knowledgable.

7) Media Promotion. Send a press to themedia, both campus newspapers and com-munity press. Do not tell the press yourcomplete plan; just give them enough in-formation to interest them in covering it.

8) Stay Focused. Once you have orga-nized a plan, stick to it! If you must makechanges to the intitial plan, inform every-one at one time. Authorize a few (prefer-ably experienced) people to make immedi-ate decisions and deal with the police, ifneed be, at your action. Women protest-ing a beauty pageant in Michigan wereable to remain in front of the building allnight, even though they had no permitand should have been much farther away,when one women who had experience withdirect action was able to effectively nego-tiate with police. Meet once before the ac-tion to solidify all plans and deal with lastminute problems. The main organizersshould not be making changes as theyplease.

9) Problems That May Arise. Eventhough your action may be legal, the po-lice may cite violations or arrest. Be pre-pared for this. If you have a permit, al-though they are not usually used for di-rect action, have it ready and have numer-ous copies. You may experience peopletrying to impose their agenda at your ac-tion. Plan how you will deal with this. Agood idea is to ask them to comply withwhat has been planned and if they refuseask them to leave. Encourage people toavoid hecklers, doing anything illegal orhitting anyone. Tempers flare, but stayunified! Remind people they will be pho-tographed and may be in the news. Whenyou leave do it in groups, if not all at once.

10) Follow-up. Appoint people to specificfollow-up tasks. Someone will need tospeak with the media immediately so thatthe authorities aren’t the only ones com-municating your reasons for acting. Havepeople coordinating the legal aspects ofyour action. Others should be working onhaving your demands addressed or imple-mented. As a group, collectively critiquewhat happened and start your future plan-ning. Good Luck!

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+�(%�������General Organizing GuidesOrganize!: Organizing for Social

Change, a manual for activists in the1990’s, Midwest Academy, ed. KimBobo Steve Max and Jackie Kendall,Seven Locks Press. 1991.

Organizing: A Guide for Grassroots Lead-ers, ed. Si Kahn, Mc Graw-Hill BookCompany. 1982.

Resource Manual for A Living Revolu-tion, Virginia Coover, Ellen Deacon,Charles Esser, Christopher Moore, NewSociety Publishers, Philadelphia, PA.

Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primerfor Realistic Radicals, Saul Alinsky,Vintage Books. 1971. Also Reveille forRadicals.

Solidarity: A Labor Support Manual forYoung Activists, Democratic Socialistsof America, New York, NY

The Organizer’s Manual, OM Collective,Bantam Books 1971

Thinking Strategically: A Primer onLong-Range Strategic Planning forGrassroots Peace & Justice Groups.Peace Development Fund

War Resisters League Organizer’sManual, ed. Ed Hedemann, War Resist-ers League. 1981.

Campus GuidesCIA Off Campus:Building the Movement

against Agency Recruitment &Research, ed. Ami Chen Mills, SouthEnd Press. 1991.

Guide to Uncovering the Right on Cam-pus, the University Conversion Project,ed. Cowan & Massachi, UCP. 1993.

Do It Yourself! Progressive Student Net-work, ed. Brad Sigal, DC PSN. 1993.

SEAC Organizing Guide, Student Envi-ronmental Action Coalition, Philadel-phia, PA, 2002.

Building the Coalition: How to Organizea SCAR chapter, DC Student Coalitionagainst Apartheid and Racism, ed.Weaver & Davis, DC SCAR. 1993.

Black Student Leadership Network Orga-nizing Manual, Children’s DefenseFund, Washington, DC 1995.

Campus Green Vote Organizing Guide,(202) 939-3323.

Education for the People Organizing

Guide, Education for the People, ed.EFP, NCUPI. 1990.

Student Pugwash Chapter OrganizingGuide. Student Pugwash USA, 1993.

Direct Action GuidesDon’t Get Caught: The Straight Skinny

on Civil Disobedience and Direct Ac-tion. UP/ONE, E. Lansing, MI.

Manual of Resistance, Disarm Now Ac-tion Group, Chicago, IL.

Seneca Women’s Peace Encampment,Seneca Cultural Workers, Seneca, NY,1986.

Meetings, Facilitation, and Decision-Making

How to Make Meetings Work, MichaelDoyle & David Straus

Building United Judgement: A Manualon Consensus Decision Making, and AManual for Group Facilitators, ed.Center for Conflict Resolution, Madi-son, WI.

Meeting Facilitation: The No-MagicMethod. Berit Lakey. Philadelphia:-NewSociety Publishers.

Democracy in Small Groups:Participation, Decision-Making, andCommunication, John Gastil, New Soci-ety Publishers, Philadelphia, PA.

On Conflict & Consensus: A Handbookon Formal Consensus Decisionmaking,CT Lawrence Butler & Amy Rothstein,Food Not Bombs Publishing, Cam-bridge, MA. 1991

People SkillsGetting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement

without Giving In, Roger Fisher andWilliam Ury.

People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Lis-ten to Others and Resolve Conflicts,Robert Bolton, Simon & Schuster, 1986.

Working for Peace: A Handbook forPractical Psychology and Other Tools.Neil Wollman, ed. Impact Publishers,San Luis Obispo, CA, 1985.

Media and ResearchStep by Step Guide to Using the Freedom

of Information Act, American Civil Lib-erties Union, Washington, DC

How to do Leaflets, Posters, and Newslet-ters, by Penny Brigham et al, availablefrom Pep Publishers, 3519 Yorkshire,

Detroit, MI 48824. $14.95.Prime Time Activism: Media Strategies

for Grassroots Organizing, CharlotteRyan, South End Press, Cambridge,MA.

Raising Hell: A Citizens Guide to theFine Art of Investigation, Dan Noyes,Center for Investigative Reporting, SanFrancisco, CA, 1983.

The Reporter’s Handbook: AnInvestigator’s Guide to Documents&-Techniques, John Ullmann &-JanColbert, ed., St. Martin’s Press, 1991.

FAIR’s Media Activism Kit, Fairness &Accuracy in Reporting, New York, (212)727-7668, 1994.

“How to Use the Media,” Bob Schaefer &Rochelle Lefkowitz, GrassrootsFundraising Journal, 12/85.

Avoiding DisruptionWar at Home: Covert Action Against US

Activists and What We Can Do About It,Brian Glick, South End Press, Boston,MA.

Don’t Forget to Have FunBlack Student Leadership Network

House Party Manual, Children’s De-fense Fund, Washington, DC 1995.

Everyone Wins! Cooperative Games &Activities, Sambhava and JosetteLuvmour, New Society, Philadelphia,PA, 1990.

Rise Up Singing, Peter Blood-Patterson,ed., Sing Out Publications, Bethlehem,PA

Books about Student ActivismGeneration at the Crossroads: Apathy

and Action on the American Campus.Paul Rogat Loeb, Rutgers UniversityPress, 1994.

New Voices: Student Political Activism inthe 80s and 90s, Tony Vellela, SouthEnd Press, Cambridge, MA.

SDS: Ten Years Towards a Revolution,Kirkpatrick Sale, Vingtage Books,1974.

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Because of graduation, summer vaca-tions, academic commitments, and trans-fers, an unstable membership is a fact oflife for student organizations. On manycampuses, this leads to severe discontinu-ity. It is difficult for a movement to go for-ward and build on previous victories ifthere is no “passing of the torch” fromone student generation to the next.

It is therefore very important for theleadership of successful student groupsto pass on their knowledge and skills toyounger classmates, and to build struc-tures in the organization to ensure that itwill thrive even after the founders gradu-ate.

Here are some suggestions on build-ing your organization to last:

1) Have a committed faculty advisor.Find a professor who has a strong interestin your issue, believes in what you are do-ing, and has an activist background. If

there is no visible activist faculty on yourcampus, then you can find one throughother activists or the academic depart-ment. Most faculty cannot devote muchtime to an activist organization, but theycan provide mentorship to new activists, afriend in the faculty union, and continuityfrom year to year. Be sure to keep him orher informed of and invited to your activi-ties. Your group may want to considerforming a “Board of Advisors” that con-sists of faculty and community activists.

2) Take the time and schedule regulartraining sessions for your group whereskills are taught by experienced activiststo new members. If this can’t be done,then group leaders should always be care-ful to mentor younger activists and passon skills on an individual level. When yougraduate, make sure that there are tenmore progressive leaders to take yourplace.

3) Receive institutional funding. Thiswill ensure resources for your group, butis a dangerous proposition, since studentgovernments and the administration willwant to control what they pay for. Institu-tional funding will work for purely educa-tional organizations, but probably notgroups working for social change. Acceptfunding only on your own terms.

4) Create an organizational structurethat is written down and will stand the testof time. When doing this, consult withother campus organizations that havebeen around awhile. You can also write tonational organizations or student groupsin different parts of the country, and askto see their constitution, operating rules,or guidelines. To find out about othersuccessful campus organizations, you canwrite to the CCO or to the Student Envi-ronmental Action Coalition (for addresses,see the back cover).

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180 - Movement for Democracy andEducation, PO Box 251701, Little Rock,AR 72225. 501-244-2439,www.corporations.org/democracy.

American Arab Anti-DiscriminationCommittee, 4201 Connecticut Ave. NW,Washington, DC 20008, 202-244-2990,www.adc.org.

CampusActivism.org

Campus Greens, 3411 W. Diversey Blvd.,Suite 5, Chicago, IL 60647. 773-394-9720,www.campusgreens.org.

Campus Opportunity Outreach League,37 Temple Place, Suite 401, Boston, MA02111, 617-695-266,www.cool2serve.org.

Canadian Federation of Students,500-170 Metcalfe St., Ottawa, ON K2P1P3, Canada, www.cfs-fcee.org.

Center for Environmental Citizenship,www.envirocitizen.org.

Center for Third World Organizing,1218 E 21st St, Oakland, CA 94606,510-533-7583, www.ctwo.org.

Empty the Shelters,http://etsatlanta.8m.net/

Feminist Majority Campus Program,1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 801,Arlington, VA 22209, 703-522-2214,www.feministcampus.org.

Green Corps, 29 Temple Place, Boston,MA 02111, 617-426-8506,www.greencorps.org.

Midwest Academy, 28 Jackson St. #605,Chicago, IL, 60604, 312-427-2304,www.midwestacademy.org.

NAACP Youth Section, 4805 Mt. HopeDr., Baltimore, MD, 21215, 410-580-5656.

www.naacp.org/work/youth_college/youth_college.shtml

National Abortion Rights Action LeagueCampus Projectwww.naral.org/actnow/campus.html

National Association of Graduate andProfessional Students, 209 Pennsylva-nia Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003.888-88-NAGPS, www.nagps.org.

National Organization for Women,www.now.org

National Student Campaign AgainstHunger and Homelessness,233 N. Pleasant Ave., Amherst, MA01002. 413-253-6427,www.nscahh.org.

National Student News Service,www.nsns.org.

National Gay and Lesbian Task ForceCampus Project, www.ngltf.org.

New Democratic Youth of Canada,www.ndyc.ca.

Oxfam America, 26 West St., Boston,MA, 02111, 1-800-77-OXFAMUSAwww.oxfamamerica.org/youth/art1532.html.

PAX Christi USA,www.paxchristiusa.org/young_adult.asp.

Political Research Associates,www.publiceye.org.

Southern Organizing Committee YouthTask Force, PO Box 10518, Atlanta, GA30310, 404-755-2885,http://socejp.igc.org.

Student Alliance Transforming andResisting Corporations,2732 SE Belmont, Portland, OR 97214.503-235-0760, www.starcalliance.org.

Student Environmental Action Coalition,P.O. Box 31909, Philadelphia, PA 19104.215-222-4711, www.seac.org.

Student Peace Action Network1819 H St. NW, Suite 425, Washington,DC 20006, 202-862-9740 ext. 3051,www.studentpeaceaction.org.

Student Pugwash USA, 2029 P. Street NW#301, Washington, DC 20036,202-429-8900, www.spusa.org.

Teachers for a Democratic Culture,www.tdc2000.org.

United for a Fair Economy, 37 TemplePlace, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02111,617-423-2148, www.ufenet.org.

US Public Interest Research Groups,218 D St SE, Washington, DC 20003,202-546-9707, www.uspirg.org.

US Student Association, 1413 K St. NW9th Floor, Washington, DC, 20005,202-347-8772, www.usstudents.org.

United Students Against Sweatshops,888 16th St. NW Suite 303, Washington,DC 20006, 202-NO-SWEAT,www.usasnet.org.

Young Democratic Socialists, 180 VarickSt, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10014,212-727-8610, www.ydsusa.org.

Young Koreans United, www.ykusa.org.

Youth and Militarism Program, c/oAFSC, 1501 Cherry St, Philadelphia, PA,19102, 215-241-7176,www.afsc.org/youthmil.htm.

Youth Peace, c/o War Resisters League,339 Lafayette St, New York, NY-10012,1-800-975-9688,www.warresisters.org/y-index.htm.

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