There the students sat in the Stamp
Student Union's Jimenez Room at the University of Maryland, College Park, talking passionately about the importance of reforming health care, just one week after President Barack Obama (D) visited the campus to discuss the same topic.
Signs saying "Health Care Can't Wait!" and "Health Care For America Now!" punctuated the students' subsequent get-together, which was billed as a news conference and was tucked away in a remote classroom.
"Our job as young people is to bridge the generational gap for health care reform," Amy Y. Hartman, president of the University of Maryland College Democrats, told the gathering Sept. 23.
"We can be the change," said John Allenbach, a 21-year-old student who said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being sexually assaulted in his dorm room. "Our job as students is to talk to our elders."
The idea was to get thousands of College Park students to "bridge the generational gap in health reform," read a release announcing the students' news conference.
Just one problem, though: Only 15 students attended the event — a significant drop-off from the 17,000 people that Obama drew at the university's Comcast Center a week before.
The press event was held in the middle of the day, when students have classes, which took a toll on attendance, Hartman said.
The College Democrats' organization held a teach-in about health care reform the following Wednesday and is encouraging students to join its Facebook group on the health care issue.
But the fact that so few turned out to the follow-up rally highlighted the dilemma of political activists on Maryland's — and the nation's — campuses these days: how to get long-dormant students involved on issues affecting their lives.
Some observers say there has been an uptick in ongoing activism. Others say it's still difficult to draw crowds, despite the fact that so many young people were energized by Obama's historic election, which drew record numbers of first-time voters.
Morgan State University in Baltimore, for instance, does not have an active Young Democrats club because the students who were in it have graduated, said Natasha Lewis, the university's assistant coordinator for student activities.
At Frostburg State University, Obama's recent visit to College Park registered barely a blip, said Josh Humelsine, president of the university's Student Government Association.
"As of right now, if you ask some students if they knew he was down there, they would say no," Humelsine said. "It's our quiet period right now," he said, referring to campus politics.
Keeping the momentum
In the 2008 election, 66 percent of those who voted for Obama were between the ages of 18 and 29, the largest number since 1972, according to The Pew Research Center. The 1972 election was the first time 18-year-olds could vote.
While more students are paying attention to the national health care debate, it could be difficult to keep students interested in the topic, said Karlo Barrios Marcelo, a national steering committee member for 80 Million Strong, which bills itself as a "coalition built by and for young people" and helps create jobs.
"We're seeing that young people are starting to coalesce around this health care thing," Marcelo said. "Some of this is new territory. Now that we're not in an election season, we're trying to keep up the momentum and keep up the interest."
Although some college campuses have seen varied levels of activism, students in general have been more involved since Obama's election, said Jake Weissmann, president of the Young Democrats of Maryland.
"It's actually pretty incredible on college campuses, not only on college campuses in Maryland, but throughout the country," he said. In Maryland, Weissmann said, college students recently have formed organizations to encourage students to contact their respective lawmakers on health care and energy-related issues.
But tell that to Rhett Burden, who knows personally the frustration of limited political engagement by students. He was the Students for Barack Obama campus coordinator at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
As Burden put it, politicians who visit UMES can attract a large crowd of students. However, it's been tough to motivate enough students on campus to remain politically active, he said.
"I'm having trouble finding students that I feel are going to be dedicated," Burden said. "I'm not sure I have the students that have the ability to speak intelligently about the issues and policies that are in place. There are some people who have the desire, but besides that, it's like pulling teeth."
UMES educators ought to institute a current events class to get students talking about national issues, Burden suggested.
New generation, new issues
Both Marcelo and Weissmann point to social networking sites like Facebook as the best way to get students interested in national affairs.
"There's still this issue of the changing engagement strategies for generations," Marcelo said. "People are showing their activism on social networks."
The scenario is much different on Towson University's campus, as many of its students are active on several fronts at the Baltimore County school, said Lauren McDade, a student senator.
At least 50 Towson students attended the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11. In addition, Towson has a core group of five students that has mobilized the student body on issues such as the war in Iraq, health care and better working conditions for employees, McDade said.
"Students are definitely more active," she said. "Since the 2008 election, students have been seen hosting a lot of things."
Rachel Fauber, for instance, has trekked the Towson campus to educate fellow students on conserving energy and eating healthy. "It's been really great seeing the campus adopting this as a philosophy," Fauber said. At Towson, officials have gone to double-sided printing in libraries and posted a map with vegetarian and vegan options on campus.
In general, today's students have gotten more energized, "but the level of activism has waned a little bit since the [presidential] election," said Michael J.G. Cain, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary's College.
During the 1960s, the effects of the civil rights era and the Vietnam War, including the military draft, resonated throughout college campuses, he noted.
"Students now are not as liberal as they were in the 1960s," Cain said. "Had they been, there would have been a stronger reaction to the war in Iraq. Students are a bit more conservative."
Just because the issues nowadays aren't as directly threatening to students doesn't mean they are not pressing concerns, Weissman said.
"We don't have the Vietnam War or the civil rights era, but we do have green issues and climate change," he said.
"It's not one issue to rally around; it's a host of issues. We see a need not only for what's going to benefit us, but what's going to benefit the world.
"And that's what young people are all about."
