By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Activism on America's college campuses has received a wake-up call.

Tough economic times, Sept. 11 and a potential war with Iraq have provided the right mix of circumstances to stir the kind of anti-war spirit that hasn't been this visible in decades.

Xavier University called attention to the homeless in its 13th annual Shantytown observance earlier this month. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

Students from California to Washington, D.C., are hosting teach-ins, protests, vigils and voter registration drives. In the Tristate, hundreds of students were among the more than 2,000 people who came to both support and protest President Bush during his visit this month to Cincinnati.

"We're seeing more and more students involved," said Juliette Niehuss, who works for theInstitute for Policy Studies, a progressive Washington, D.C., think tank.

"Some are so organized that their protests are weekly. Over the past two weeks, it has been growing the most. Activism is snowballing.''

The institute tracks student events opposing a potential preemptive strike on Iraq. Since late September, there have been nearly 200 events in 46 states.

Locally, student anti-war groups are beginning to organize. But an activism community involving students has been building over the past two years, said Survi Parvatiyar, a UC law student and a graduate student in women's studies.

A series of demonstrations - at the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue conference in 2000, the death of Timothy Thomas in April 2001 and the federal court's affirmative action ruling in a University of Michigan case earlier this year - enabled students to network locally.

IF YOU GO

What: National march on Washington, D.C., to protest a preemptive strike on Iraq. Student groups from the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and Thomas More College plan to attend. When: 11 a.m. Saturday. Where: Constitution Gardens, adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 21st Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

"I think that's something students think they should do," she said of anti-war participation, adding that campuses are traditional places of dissent.

Nationwide, factions with their own agendas - the environment, homelessness and women's rights - have begun to organize under a broader social justice umbrella to oppose war.

The institute is helping coordinate these organizations on college campuses. It directs those who want to organize to Web sites that provide ideas for events, educational materials, sample fliers, press releases and other tips.

Earlier this month, activist groups put out a call encouraging students to stage protests, hang banners and write their congressmen. Those efforts will culminate in a national march on Washington on Saturday. Several student groups from the Tristate, including Xavier University, UC and Thomas More College, plan to attend.

Environmental issues are the focus for Geoff Milz, a UC junior and president of the campus environmental group ESAVE. But he is also working to promote social justice. In Cincinnati, he and other students helped register 700 voters in Hamilton County. He will also participate in Saturday's march.

"We are sending a clear message to state, local and national politicians that the students of Cincinnati will be voting in the upcoming election," he said. "Those politicians who ignore issues students care about - tuition hikes, social justice and environmental protection - risk losing support of the next generation of our nation's leaders."

For those students who want to participate but can't make the trip, Ms. Parvatiyar is helping organize a local rally.

Liberal voices are not the only ones speaking out. Between 125 and 150 College Republicans from across Ohio held signs in support of President Bush during his speech in Cincinnati.

"We really wanted to make sure people know there are people out there who support Bush," said Drew McKenzie, a 20-year-old UC sophomore and chapter president of the College Republicans. "It really shows that people are in support of our president. When it comes to the war effort, it's a matter of national security."

Participation in the political process both on and off campus is up. At Xavier University and UC, more students are participating in student government than in past years. At UC, for example, more than 80 people are on the presidential cabinet when numbers usually hover around 20 or 30. And At Xavier, about 25 freshmen turned out for four spots on the student senate when there are usually about a dozen.Suzanna Walters, director of women's studies at Georgetown University and an expert on popular culture, said she isn't surprised at the surge in activism. A looming war has that effect.

"Their life changes and their future seems much shakier than four years ago," Dr. Walters said. "They see a nation on the brink of war and terrorism all over the place."

While the slogans are reminiscent of 1960s demonstrations opposing the Vietnam War and promoting civil rights, today's activism has a new look:

The venue is no longer the campus administration building. It's the statehouse and the World Wide Web, where students can disseminate information farther and faster. Instead of pasting fliers across campus, students are posting dates and times on online message boards. They're using cell phones and PDAs to stay connected.

Issues have changed, from equal rights for women and minorities to questions of global inequities - sweat shops in South America, the power of the International Monetary Fund and worldwide corporate influence.

Shantytown, an annual program at Xavier that highlights homelessness, included a global component last week. One night, students listened to a panel discussion on issues of international homelessness, including the problem of refugees as a result of war.

"It's `Let's go to the statehouse,' " Dr. Walters said. " `Let's go online.' " The previous notion of occupying a building on campus is no longer the only way to go."

The regime change from Mr. Clinton to Mr. Bush and a shift in policy leaves students with more to protest, she said.

"Prior to that, there was a period of quiescence for much of the 1990s," she said. "Students are seeing a very identifiable enemy. (There is) a president who is standing for much of what progressive students would be against."

But whether the current movement will have the national scope of those during the 1960s remains to be seen.

"The real question is whether they can morph into a social movement," Dr. Walters said. "I don't see that happening yet. They're not making the links with the labor movement and others to create a larger opposition to the war. It's in a different place.

"We've yet to see how it will play out."

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com