The Right Direction

Last week's Democracy Teach-Ins represented a step in the right direction at Harvard. While Harvard did not trample over itself to attend the Teach-Ins, we applaud the programs' spirit and urge students to carry it into the myriad community organizations that share in that spirit.

The Teach-Ins were valuable in two respects. They promoted a sense of empowerment that extends beyond any individual issue, and encouraged people to take control of all aspects of their lives. They also addressed a wide set of issues, and in doing so helped to cast off the myopic haze which too often surrounds Harvard students. For one week, we were challenged to consider the plight not only of comfortable Ivy Leaguers, but also of oppressed students in Kosovo, Zapatistas in Chiapas, or low-skill workers in the U.S.

The week is over, but the sentiment should not be. We came to Harvard for an education, but producing papers and taking exams alone do not qualify one for entry into the society of educated men and women. In order to fully claim the right to call ourselves that, we must transform the passively-gathered knowledge of classes into active engagement with the larger community.

Students can become more active in explicitly political organizations, both to assist in current programming, and also to question and improve those organizations. For example: Take Back the Night, a rally devoted to promoting awareness of violence against women, is still being organized; the debate over the ethnic studies concentration is again coming to the forefront of discussion, and battles are still being fought over the degree of control we have over our own education, through Core Curriculum reform. In addition, the current situation in Central Square offers Harvard students the opportunity to step beyond the bounds of the Yard and to gain some sense of our larger community of Cambridge.

These are but a small sample of the possibilities. Organizers of the week's events stressed that they did not have a specific desired outlet for increased activism; the single, uniting theme was participation. It is a theme which cannot be too heavily emphasized, particularly in light of the recent Undergraduate Council elections, whose outcome seemed to hint at a mandate to depoliticize the council, eliminating one potential political voice on campus.

College is one time above all others when people have the freedom--from the constraints of a full-time job, child care, rents and housework--to contemplate seriously the future directions their lives will take. Wouldn't it be nice if, as we all consider the options for our private lives, we also take the time to think about the future directions our civic, public lives, will take, and to come to an appreciation of the impact we can have on our own communities?

Teach-In organizers stressed that Harvard already contains a multitude of people pursuing often similar goals, but through different means, without communicating. Hopefully, this week will spur students to think about the role of activism in their own lives and by doing so, help them to connect with others who share similar goals. As one organizer put it, "A lot of people don't recognize that you don't have to live, breathe and die activism here to [participate]." Concerned individuals need not devote the whole of their time to an organization or a cause to make a meaningful contribution. Indeed, small actions do matter. And, in the end, they provide dividends, not just for those who are assisted, but also for those who in providing that assistance, realize how powerful an individual action can be.

This week provided a chance for Harvard students to think seriously about the meaning of the democratic ideal. But democracy cannot exist as an idea alone; it must be represented in our actions.