College Students: The Future & The Present
Published on Sunday, February 01, 2009
ARTICLES
"Students are not only the future. We are the present too."
Isaac Salmeron, Venezuelan Student Movement member
The need for student outreach is best summed up by Isaac Salmeron's quote. And, there has never been an easier time to reach out to college students. Thanks to the Internet, students are mobilized in ways that past generations could only dream about. Students are energized by egregious violations of fairness and justice through government-sponsored corporatism. Today, students are literally screaming for support in the cause of liberty and craving opportunities to advance the cause.
Traditionally, the pro-liberty community has delegated student support solely to explicitly student-focused organizations. However, collaborative efforts have the potential to produce incredible value. Thus, state-focused think tanks should consider engaging new student demographics to complement the work of these organizations.
This article explains why state-focused think tanks should make student outreach a priority. Further, it provides outreach ideas, discusses how to identify students to support and suggests ways to support them.
Why Student Outreach Matters
Students are an ideal group to market your organization to. Public policy involves two steps: do the research, and convince people to agree with your ideas. The first step is fruitless without the second. Due to students' youth and intellectual environment, they are more open to new ideas than most any other demographic.
Students today will be the leaders of liberty tomorrow; your institute should be involved in their preparation for that role. Your organization can pass on the best practices and lessons it has learned over the years to develop a stronger intellectual leadership base for the future.
Students have the potential to transform the world today. Unencumbered by serious time constraints, such as jobs and families, students are able to support social change with significant freedom. Witness the Venezuelan Student Movement's accomplishments in the past two years, defeating Hugo Chavez's attempts to curtail human rights and democracy.
Last but not least, forming a connection with students from a geographical area is easier than doing so nationally. This relationship also sets your organization up as the "farm club" entry point for introducing students to relevant national organizations.
How to Find Students
As co-founder of Students For Liberty, I proudly note one of SFL's primary purposes is to form connections between students and organizations dedicated to liberty. SFL has compiled a comprehensive database of key student groups to facilitate these connections. SFL would be glad to help you brainstorm more ideas or help organize formal programs.
Another way to identify liberty-minded students in your state, contact the organizations listed in the sidebar on page 4. Each group has a different policy for sharing information, but all have been amenable to working with others. Creating these connections is essential to successful student outreach efforts.
- Cato on Campus
- Federalist Society
- Foundation for Economic Education
- The Fund for American Studies
- Institute for Humane Studies
- Students for a Free Economy
- Students For Liberty
- www.studentsforliberty.org
- Young Americans for Liberty
- Young America's Foundation
Of course, seek out students on your own. Create a campus speakers series. Assign an intern to identify student organizations that would likely be interested in your work - from campus libertarians to an economics club to the political science honors society. Contact them, offer a speaker free of charge and, if possible, provide pizza and refreshments. (Campus speaking also benefits your institute's young scholars, giving them additional presentation practice.)
Likewise, contact professors of political science, public administration and so forth and offer a guest speaker for their classes. This is especially effective if it's a visiting national figure, such as a Wall Street Journal editorial board member.
Finally, create programs that encourage students to find you. One possibility is a writing competition for the best term paper about privatization or classical liberal philosophy. Offer a cash award. Such programs double as outreach projects and support for students.
How You Can Support Students
Once your institute has identified like-minded or interested students, how will it help them? Below are four ways to support students.
First, establish a comprehensive, structured and meaningful internship program. Interns provide additional labor to produce publications, which gives them public policy experience. At the same time, they can act as quasi-focus groups and help develop innovative ideas to spread your message. To get more students involved, consider remote internships, where students remain on campus, but submit commentaries and research via email.
Second, provide pamphlets and other materials to student groups. They are always looking for information to hand out at campus events or have their members read. By sending publications and books students will feel appreciated and become more interested in spreading your message.
Third, incorporate students into your organizational activities. Invite them to institute events, network them with organizations that support students, and provide scholarships to encourage them to get involved in free-market activities. Introducing students to your community of scholars and supporters will put a human face on your work and increase their dedication.
Fourth, provide support for students to participate in conferences across the U.S., like the Second Annual Students for Liberty Conference at George Washington University, Feb. 20-22, 2009. This conference brings students together from around the world to learn from leaders of liberty, and to discuss how to promote liberty on campus.
Last year, Students for a Free Economy, a Mackinac Center project, helped make the inaugural SFL Conference a success. SFE advertised the conference in Michigan through its newsletter and blogs; organized a van service to drive all Great Lake State students to the conference; and, covered a block of hostel rooms for the Michigan students who attended.
Suffice it to say, SFE brought one of the largest contingencies of students from any state. Its efforts paid off: SFE got more students involved in its work and the Mackinac Center's. Your organization can support students by doing any or all of the above - or more - for any event.
SFE will continue its support in 2009 for the Second Annual SFL Conference. Joining them is the Commonwealth Foundation, which will provide $100 travel/housing scholarships for Pennsylvania students to attend the conference. Covering registration fees is another incentive for students to become involved in the cause of liberty and for you to send organizational information to them. If you would like to offer Conference scholarships for students from your state, please let me know.
There is a pressing need for those who support liberty to make a concerted effort to reach out to students. In Washington, D.C., organizations dedicated to liberty have begun holding monthly meetings to discuss outreach efforts and collaborative projects. Join us, for a freer, more prosperous tomorrow.
Alexander McCobin is co-founder and executive director of Students For Liberty, as well as a Koch Associate at the Cato Institute, working on the Cato on Campus project. Write him at amccobin@cato.org or amccobin@studentsforliberty.org.
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