THE ORIGINS OF
THE RAISE YOUR VOICE CAMPAIGN

In 2001, Campus Compact convened a group of students from across the country at Wingspread Conference Center for a discussion of student civic engagement form the perspective of students themselves. These 33 students represented diverse institutions as well as varied social, political, economic and intellectual interests.

Out of this conversation and the student written report, The New Student Politics: The Wingspread Statement on Student Civic Engagement (Campus Compact, 2002), came an emerging concept of “service politics.” Service politics attempts to connect community service and political engagement in a way that “service” is not seen as an “alternative to politics” but rather as an “alternative politics." From this notion, it could be seen that the students felt an intrinsic connection between their local work in schools, neighborhoods, and campuses to larger political and policy issues. Community service work informed, strengthened, and deepened their ability to make political decisions.

The Wingspread Summit illustrated the power of highlighting student voice and creating space for dialogues on service, politics and the role that higher education plays in democratic life. Student voice is a critical, often neglected, aspect of the discussions on the civic purposes of higher education. This has led Campus Compact to initiate a substantial effort to listen to student voices and support civic engagement to address public issues crucial to our democracy.

Activities in the student campaign include: a national student summit on civic engagement held at the Wingspread Conference Center for national student organizations September 20-22; creation of a student leadership teams in 17 states to guide local efforts; campus, regional, and statewide dialogues on civic engagement held around the country; campus-community mapping of civic engagement opportunities that currently exist on campuses for students; and a Student policy summit for student policy makers, faculty, community service directors, and college presidents hosted by student leaders summarizing their policy recommendations around student civic engagement.

One of the central pieces of the Student Civic Engagement Campaign will be the Raise Your Voice – A Week of Action (it is now a Month!