CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FOR SLACKERS…
(or Projects that Require Minimal Effort)

Let’s face it, we’re in college & time is limited. Here are some great ideas that will get you involved, make a difference, and don’t require much of your time.

**Be sure to check with your college or university regulations before starting any activity!**

1. Awareness Posters
Create colorful, bold posters to raise awareness on your campus. Choose an issue or statistic and hang the posters up in prominent campus locations. Make sure you check school policy first.

2. Whose Responsibility Is It?
Get large photographs depicting poignant social, environmental, or political situations, like starving children, pollution, military torture. (students in the past have been able to get photos donated from local papers, etc). Hang posters up in prominent campus locations with large sheets of blank paper and pens. Ask for responses to: Whose Responsibility Is It? This activity will not only prompt discussion, but could also prompt campus-wide student action. Check out our section on non-verbal dialogues

3. Start a Chat Room
Invite friends, co-workers, or classmates to a private chat room around a particular issue. Record the conversation.

4. Host a Campus Dialogue
Gather approximately 15 students to a conversation around a hot campus topic or other issue. To find out more click here.

5. Send out Mass Emails
Mass emails can be obnoxious, but are often effective. If the school or department’s email list is accessible, send the pressing information and explain why every one should know about it. Make sure the email is worthwhile, or there might be thousands of students at your room demanding an explanation!

6. Ask a teacher for time to make a short presentation or announcement
This takes virtually no energy, little preparation, and only a hint of confidence. Many teachers are willing to allow their students a few minutes before or after class to present some pressing information or announce upcoming events. Take advantage of your classmates’ attention while you have it!

8. Camp out for a cause
Pitch tents, cardboard boxes, or just roll out your sleeping bags on the quad, common, green, lawn, etc for your cause. Raise awareness for an issue by being visible and bold.

9. Food, Toy, Book, Clothes Drive
Collect items that may be helpful to specific organizations or populations. Try a twist on the traditional service project by connecting it to an awareness raising campaign or activity. For example, collect clothing for a homeless shelter and give out statistics on poverty and homelessness or have a sign up sheet for an upcoming world hunger fast.

10. Turn dances, festivals, spring weekends into consciousness raising events
Booths, signs, buttons, and costumes, are all ways of calling attention to a cause or issue. For example, pass out commemorative ribbons or shirts, set up a table with information on the topic, or put up posters. Or host an activity (ie, dance party, fashion show) where all the profits go to a cause.

11. Take Back the Night
This event is often done annually on college campuses all across the country to raise awareness about sexual assault and violence against women (and men). To find out more, go to www.campusoutreachservices.com

12. Have a Cookout
Serve food to local kids, old folks, neighbors, or your own college campus. With a big group of people, cooking will be a fun and easy. Not to mention you will be able to raise awareness about a particular issue and eat some good grub.

13. Write for the school Newspaper
Write a weekly article about issues that you feel need attention or write a letter to the editor about a pressing topic. Your opinion matters—let it be heard!

14. Publish an alternative or underground newspaper
Newspaper staff won’t let you write? Unsatisfied with the scope of the current paper? Start your own. All you need is a couple friends and a copy machine. You could even start an on-line paper. Go for it.

15. Get a radio show or ask for a spot on someone else’s
Either commit to a radio show of your own or ask for a few minutes of someone else’s show to publicize events or raise awareness about particular topics. College radio shows often reach large audiences, even those outside of the campus community.

16. Start a letter writing campaign
Write to an elected official about an issue you care about. Letter writing campaigns have been known to move mountains (or protect them). Check out these sites for tips:
www.accessfund.org
or
action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=
AP_action_homepage
Better yet, start a post card campaign—post cards are inexpensive, easy to find, and may stand out from underneath piles of white envelopes.