Introduction: The 1930s Movement and Youth Involvement

Iconic image from the Great Depression.

The early twentieth century was a unique time in United States history. Economic hardship left people hungry, unemployed, and suffering. However, this was also a time of increased sense of community, political consciousness, and solidarity. The 1930s Great Depression created a collective frustration among American peoples. Citizens felt like they had been failed by the government, banks, and capitalist system. Doubt caused many to turn to alternative ways of organizing society.

The students above were participants in the SLID 1935.

Americans began visioning the country in a radical way. Leftist ideologies such as communism and socialism became popular alternatives. Denning (1997) explains in his article, The Cultural Front that this time period was the “first time in the history of the United States that the left – the tradition of radical democratic movements for social transformation – had a central, and indeed shaping impact”(pg. 3). Massive amounts of  citizens began to fight for a new leftist way of life.  Americans together organized and revolted against government and big businesses. Dennings (1997) describes this time as the Popular Front; “a radical historical bloc uniting industrial unionists, communists, independents socialist, community activists, and emigre anti facisits around laborist social democracy”(p. 4).

Poster from the American Youth Congress.

Many college students contributed to this movement. Around the country youth between the ages of 18 and 25 visioned a new country. Together they questioned the capitalist system and turned to the left for alternative ways of life. Their visions included organizing and advocating around more federal aid for education, government programs for youth, abolition of the compulsory Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), academic freedom, racial equality, peace and collective bargaining rights. Nationally the most influential student organizations were the socialist led League for Industrial Democracy (LID), the communist led National Student League (NSL), and the American Student Union (ASU).  These groups planned actions to fight for their reform agendas. Students accomplished great successes while challenging economic, political, and social systems. Throughout the 1930s over 500,000 collegians were mobilized (Buhle, Buhle, Georgakas, 1998, p. 799-802).

Some have compared todays U.S. Recession to the Great Depression. Our current economic state is in danger of collapse. Unemployment rates are high, businesses are failing, and citizens are struggling to make ends meet. So why have Americans not fought against the current system? Why has another Popular Front not been formed? What is stopping citizens from forming a social movement like that during the 1930s? College students today are especially vulnerable. Nona Willis Arnonwitz  outlines in her essay What is the Crash Generation? how 18-25 year olds are experiencing the brunt of the current Recession. She explains how “Millennials” are frustrated and exploited by the current economic system (Arnonwitz, 2013, p. 1). Students are graduating from Universities with thousands of dollars in debt and unable to find employment to support themselves.Why have students not mobilized? Why are youth not fighting for their rights as they did in the 1930s?

Visioning is key.

The missing element is there is no vision for an alternative way of life. During the Great Depression, leftist ideologies was the collective vision. However, today there is no common, widespread, and popular ideology. Without a collective vision for the future, no progress or action can be made. This blog looks to highlight student visioning in the 1930s. Learning about youth values and how they put their ideas into action can help students today. College students during the Great Depression proved how powerful student voice can be. Their struggles and success serve as hope for todays 20 – something year olds.

 By: Meghan Long

The Calm Before The Storm

College graduate highlights need for employment in a humorous way on their graduation cap

It is often said that Millennials are not politically active. Instead of taking direct action, 20-somethings post their economic, political, and social complaints online. However, with the current economic state, rising unemployment rates, and increasing tuition prices students can literally not afford to not take action. Why are we not getting involved?

During the 1930s students were extremely politically involved. This generation of students serve as an inspiration to youth today. However, Robert Cohan explains in his book When the Old Left was Young, that students during this time did not grab their picket signs immediately after the stock market crashed. In fact it took about 3 years for students to take action. With this said, perhaps critics of the Millennial generation should not be so quick to judge. Perhaps it is a matter of time before current students across the country emulate their elders passion for social change. Perhaps this is the calm before the storm.

During the 1900s the Yale varsity sweater became a status symbol among students at the elite ivy league college. This jacket is an example of college students frivolous interests during this time.

                                                                                                                                                  At the start of the Great Depression students were not concerned with social change. While workers went on strike, college students were attending lavish parties, football games, and greek life events. This generations apolitical attitude spoke about the population of young adults that were attending college at this time. Students were elite, wealthy, and from the upper class. Their financial stability made them naive about what was really going on throughout the country.

However, Cohen explains in his text that there were students struggling.  Several students could barely pay tuition, room and board, or meal plans. These students had a difficult time interacting with the majority of their classmates. Students of lower incomes were often teased and ostracized. Students who were being affected by the Great Depression resented their rich classmates.  One student recalls their feelings; 

“There were kids who didn’t have a place to sleep, huddling under bridges on the campus. I had a scholarship, but there were times when I didn’t have food. The meals were often three candy bars … There was an embarrassment at college where a lot of the kids were well-heeled. I still have a resentment against the fraternity boy and the sorority girls with their cashmere sweaters and pearls. Even now, when I letter at colleges, I have this feeling about those terribly overdressed kids. It wasn’t a hatred because I wanted these things, but because they didn’t understand what was going on… The rich kids… didn’t give a damn” (Cohen,  1993).

From 1929-1931 the majority of  students continued to harbor apolitical attitudes.  However, students were in for a rude awakening. In 1932 college students began facing the brunt of the Depression. At this time, “College enrollments fell, slipping by more than 4 percent. It had taken three years of the worst economic crisis in American history to bring college enrollments down” (Cohen,  1993). This put severe financial strain on institutions of higher education. Budgets were reassembled cutting out student programs, faculty salaries, financial aid, scholarship funds, and more.

Suddenly, the campus mood changed. Students began to have less of a carefree and unconcerned attitude. “Faculty members found their students more seriously concerned about social and political questions, eager for answer about why the Depression had begun and how it could be ended”. Many students began to wonder if  “College graduates would face downward rather than upward social mobility and experience poverty rather than prosperity”. One college president warned students that they were “emerging into a world which did not want them” (Simon  1967) Similarly, a Columbia University administrator warned students “The social order is unable to absorb those who annually graduate from our colleges and professional schools” (Simon,  1967). Articles began being printed in college newspapers documenting student hardships. One college newspaper printed the popular “Ode to Higher Education”:

I sing in praise of college,

Of M.A.’s and Ph.D.’s,

But in pursuit of knowledge

We are starving by degrees

Student protestor at the City College of New York. Source: from College Archives in the Morris R. Cohen Library.

Slowly students began to challenge the status quo. Their feelings of uncertainty and worry would catalyze radical student activism. Cohen describes this unique historical moment: “The Depression, having at last caught up with the college world would involve questioning not merely proms but profits, not just the inequalities on campus but the inequality of the capitalist system itself. And the lead role in shaping this new collegiate world would not be played by a type of political activist who in the previous decade had not the slighted influence on undergraduate life- students in communist and socialist organizations” (Cohen,  1993).

There are striking similarities between the students from the 1930s and students today. Students during the 1930s slowly began to become politically involved. Perhaps this slow progression is what is currently happening with Millennials. Perhaps it is a matter of time before current students across the country grab their picket signs and challenge the current social order.

By: Meghan Long

The Early Era of Student Activism

In today’s world the common student is or should be, very concerned with student activism. We live in an age where it is imperative that we take an active stance on issues like the student debt crisis. Recent protests such as the Occupy Movement have also had large amounts of student involvement. But what does student activism mean? One of the best ways to answer this question may be to look at some of the first organized student activists which appeared in the early 20^th century and grew in strength during the Great Depression and the New Deal era of the 1930’s.

During the 1920’s there was a small group of socialist-led undergraduate students called the League for Industrial Democracy (LID). The LID only made up around 2,000 of the one million college students and it was a descendent of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society which was founded by Upton Sinclair in 1905. In its early years the LID was small and unpopular among undergraduates, but as capitalism started to fail during the Depression, leftist ideas began to circulate more widely. Socialist and Communist groups found that it slowly became more acceptable to question and criticize capitalism which had long been “the American way”. In 1931 a communist led group called the National Student League (NSL) was formed. The NSL wanted to change radical student activism into something more militant and active than its LID predecessor.

At this time in history there was about three million people unemployed and about a fourth of them were ages fifteen to twenty-four. During the depression about twenty to thirty percent of all youth were unemployed. These were the factors that drove the NSL and pushed students to become part of a socialist movement. Capitalism was broken, the over production of the 1920’s had left thousands unemployed and impoverished. The student activism at this time mobilized upwards of 500,000 college students, which was about half the national student body. They were feeling both scorned and frustrated. It had become increasingly difficult for youth to attend college with such economic hardship. In 1932 and 1933 an estimated eighty thousand youths were unable to enroll because of the hard times. What made matters worse is that even the students who were able to attend college through this difficult era were being released into the worst job market in American history. there were no jobs available, even for college graduates.

For those that were attending college federal aid was desperately needed. One of the things that youth activist groups fought for was issues involving economic aid to students. Which included things like textbook costs, tuition fees, and work programs. Only fourteen percent of the entire population of college age students were on work relief. Youth activism was also highly involved in anti-war activity, which included: walk-outs, marches, boycotts, and protests against the compulsory Royal Officers Training Corp (ROTC). Many American students observed the political environment of Europe and new that there were signs of the United States entering a war. Many of the student activists took pledges refusing to fight in any of America’s wars. The NSL and the LID jointly sponsored the first national strike on war in April 1934. This became an annual occurrence and included around 20,000 students the first year, 175,000 the second, and 500,000 the third. The NSL and LID merged and became the ASU which was the largest student activist organization in the country.

Setting the Stage for Future Success

When the topic of student activism is brought up the 1930’s are usually not the first thing that pops into many peoples heads. Instead, anti-Vietnam War hippies, Tennessee Summer volunteers in the Civil Rights Movement, and even Occupy Wall-street are some of the most commonly conjured images. However, without the movements that took place in the 1930’s there would have been no basis for these movements and they would not have been nearly as effective.

One of the largest issues early Student activists and leftists were concerned about was anti-war protest. WWI had changed the world, as well as people’s perceptions on the USA’s foreign responsibility. Many students saw the political shifts happening in Japan and Germany and were afraid of impending war. Many students took pledges that they would not participate in any foreign wars (an adaptation of the English ‘Oxford Pledge‘). Organizations such as the National Student League (NSL), printed anti-war propaganda in college newspapers. The Communist and Socialist student groups took a critical stance on the US foreign policy and said that war was simply an outgrowth of the profit system. The American Student Union (ASU) educated, organized and polled students and reported that 92% of students were in favor of worldwide disarmament and 63% thought the US should reduce armaments regardless of the rest of the world. One of the largest successes during this time was the organization of The National Strike on War which was an annually occurring event starting in 1934. This strike was a peaceful protest which mainly consisted of student walk-outs for only an hour or two on City College New York as well as other places.

The anti-war protest movement slowed down drastically in the start of the 1940’s. The government started circulating lots of pro-war propaganda and feelings of patriotism soared. The draft pulled many would-be college males from academic settings and the nation began to mobilize. About 440,000 students were enrolled in Engineering, Science and Management War Training courses set up by the Army and Navy.

The anti-war protests of the 1960’s drew many lessons from the 1930’s and those opposed to the Vietnam War learned from their student activist predecessors. In the 1960’s activists still used fliers, newspapers, and pamphlets, but there was less organization. Participants didn’t need to be “members” who attended meetings, had membership cards, paid dues, or had any type of long lasting commitment. Also, the 1960’s saw the rise of more militant and direct action. The protests now consisted of more than just petitions, campus votes and short demonstrations. They now were more “obstructive demonstration” and the protestors were not hesitant to use violence to convey their message or get what they want. One more thing that made the anti-war demonstrations of the 1960’s more effective was the large public opposition to the Vietnam War versus the largely patriotic backing of WWII. Besides the student activists and youth there were many people who were opposed to the Vietnam War, whereas the patriotic fervor was in a frenzy during the 1940’s.

Throughout history, anti-war protest has always been more radical and effective when paired with some other social struggle. When the protest can be directly linked to something just as large it carries a far greater amount of momentum. For example, the anti-war protests of the 1930’s was paired with the larger struggle of the Great Depression, which united many students in a common struggle. The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s had a similar effect because many students were joined together in the collective struggle for social and political equality. One of the reasons opposition to the War on Terror was/has been so unsuccessful is that there has been no consistent social problem that it is tied to.

By the Students, For the Students: 1930s Political Cartoons

During the 1930s students across the county were visioning a new way of life. Plagued by hardships from the stock market crash, students began demanding social change. College students specifically began organizing around Higher Education reform. Youth were not happy with how their universities were being run. One of the ways students voiced their opinions was through student run newspapers and magazines. Political cartoons were often featured in these publications. These cartoons portrayed qualms students had with university systems. Below are some examples of illustrations from student newspapers during this time.

(1936)
“The Yale Lock”.

The political cartoon (above) was featured in the Yale University newspaper The Student Advocate in 1936. The illustration centers around a college graduate whose mouth is under lock and key. This cartoon, suggests that youth during the 1930s felt they were chained to their education.This image also suggests that students felt that they did not have a voice. Perhaps that in order to graduate and earn a degree they had to be silent and comply with corrupt institutional values.

Political Cartoon featured in The Student Call in 1934.

The cartoon (above) was featured in the New York University student newspaper The Student Call. The image is titled “Vested Interests” and was published in March 1934.  highlights how students felt about  the administration running universities. This illustration suggests that youth felt like puppets being controlled by university administrators. Administrators and trustees dictated the college experience for most colleges. This image suggests that students felt that their voices were not being heard by officials.

Political cartoon titled “No Help Wanted” was printed by the National Student League

This image (above) was created by George Price and Louis Lapchek. The two were members of the National Student League. This illustration portrays how Higher Education was treated like a business. The cartoon shows a wealthy man guiding students like cattle into a university. The man collects money with each student that passes through the building. However, on the flip side, students graduating from the college are shown not being able to be hired. This cartoon suggests that students in the 1930s were questioning the education system.  Why were students being pushed into the education system and not earning jobs? In addition, why were students being treated like a commodity? Why was higher education being treated like a business rather than a place of learning? These were questions students were demanding answers to during the 1930s.

During the 1930s political cartoons were an easy way for students voice their opinions about Higher Education. Illustrations could be easily printed and distributed. What is so striking about these cartoons is they highlight student concerns today. Today students are concerned rising tuition prices and weight of student debt. Student newspapers are not as utilized in spreading political opinions as they were in the 1930s. Instead social media sites such a Facebook, Twitter, and Instragram are used. The closets medium to political cartoons of the millennial generations are memes. There are a wide collection of political memes that highlight many social issues. Below are some examples of memes today that highlight Higher Education reform. 

Popular meme about student debt.

Popular meme about student loans.

Popular meme about tuition prices.

Wether it be 1930 or 2013, students have found ways to voice their political opinions. Political cartoons in student newspapers and memes reposted on social media sites have given students the chance to speak out about higher education corruption. It is quite remarkable the similarities between student frustrations today and during the Great Depression.

By: Meghan Long

Causes For Protest: Then and Now

Causes For Protest Then and Now:

NSA’s Anti-War Protest 1930’s	Occupy Wall-Street Movement 2011
Stock Market Bubble	Housing Bubble
Wealth In Hands of Top 5%	Income Inequality and Wealth Distribution “we are the 99%!”
End Censorship of Student Newspapers and Permit Students to Choose Which Political Organization They Affiliate With.	Liberation of Flow of Information. End Government Censorship of Media Coverage Related to War and Politics.
Not Enough Regulation on Banks (Risky Speculation)	Accountability of Institutions of Power. Stop Debt Increases (Mortgages, Student Loans, Credit Cards)
Create More Work Programs and Aid For Us Citizens. Provide Work For US Citizens.	End Outsourcing of Jobs. Establish Fair Working Wage.
Avoid Interfering With Foreign Wars or Conflicts	End Imperialist Doctrine. Stay Out of the Middle-East

During both of these movements the people involved felt united in their plight against the injustices of capitalism. Both groups saw war as a capitalistic outgrowth of expansion, imperialism and rivalry. The wealth inequality that existed nearly a hundred years ago is only worse today and when that is coupled by a high rate of unemployment people are drawn towards more socialist forms of government for answers. In both cases this immediately creates opposition as anything except strict capitalism is viewed as “un-American” or “anti-democracy”. This is a troublesome realization. Why are people continually ostracized and/or attacked for looking for answers to end economic problems through other forms of government?

Partly this is because our nation was originally founded on capitalist ideals. Settlers, colonists, and immigrants were all looking for a better life, a chance to increase their wealth and social standing. That was the great thing about this “new” country at the time, there was no preexisting upper class controlling all the wealth. It was possible for anyone to climb the ladder and make something more of themselves (as long as they were male and white that is). This is what the American dream is all about, we have been duped and spoon-fed myths about the ‘land of opportunity’. Our nation began to cling to capitalism even stronger after propaganda campaigns during foreign wars. The government succeeded in turning anything resembling communism into America’s enemy. The ‘Red Scare’ during the Cold War is just one of the many examples.

The opportunity for expansion and ‘rags to riches’ mentality has changed quite a bit in today’s world. As time continued the wealth of our nation became more and more concentrated at the top. Those who are part of the bourgeoisie class own a larger and larger percentage of the wealth every year. “By 1910 the top one percent of the United States Population received more than a third of all personal income, while the bottom fifth got less than one eighth… In 1950 physicians made two and a half times what unionized industrial workers made but now make six times as much.” (James Loewen, 209) Today these inequalities are even more drastic. “From 2002 to 2007, the average inflation-adjusted income of the top 1 percent of households rose 62 percent, compared to 4 percent for the bottom 90 percent of households.” CBPP These income and wealth inequalities are rising exponentially and this will not improve at all as long as the proletariat remain alienated from their labor. Capitalism gives us the illusion of freedom and equal opportunity, when in reality it enslaves most of its citizens in debt and suffering unshared by the upper class. These debts and hardships get passed down to our future generations making it even harder to become one of the successful examples our society loves to cling to.

The cause for protest hasn’t changed much since our predecessors first started demonstrating against war, wealth inequality, and unemployment. If anything these problems have only gotten worse. However this simply proves that we are not alone. This is not a new fight, we are battling for the same freedoms and rights of our great or even great-great-grandparents. Inequality is the byproduct of capitalism and we are all united in our struggle against it.

DREAM-ers; Student Activism Today

Illegal immigration is a highly debated topic in American politics. Many Americans are afraid foreigners will take over land, jobs, and resources. However, many who immigrate illegally to the United States are fleeing from violent, unstable, and dangerous societies.

Undocumented individuals that are in a unique position are those who illegally crossed borders as young children. Immigrant youth have grown up in America as their home. Should these peoples be denied citizenships and rights? Esspecially since many were too young to even understand illegal immigration and its consequences?

The Dream Activist website has the largest collection of immigrant stories. Below are words from a youth immigrant:

“I have come to love America for what it is and for what it stands for. And now my only wish is to remove this unsightly undocumented blemish from my soul so that I can pursue my studies here in the land of the free. However, the only way that I and other students that share my story can do this is through the passage of the Dream Act.”

The DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) is a piece of legislation that works to protect and support illgal immigrant youth. The policy strives to give undocumented youth rights in higher education. The DREAM Act has been brought to the senate for vote several times. It was most recently was brought for vote on May 11, 2011. The current piece of legislation includes two main agendas:

1. The DREAM Act would permit certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S. to apply for temporary legal status and to eventually obtain permanent legal status and become eligible for U.S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military (The National Immigrant Law Center)

2. The DREAM Act would eliminate a federal provision that penalizes states that provide in-state tuition without regard to immigration status. (National Immigrant Law Center)

Students all over the nation have organized around the DREAM Act. Many student organizations throughout the country are actively involved in the struggle for immigrant rights in higher education.

United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth led organization in the nation. The organization started in the mid 2000s to promote the DREAM act. Their mission is to organize and advocated at local, regional, and national levels. The organization has networks of 52 affiliate organizations in 25 states. The organization stresses the importance of their work; “Youth organizing for access to citizenship and higher education has provided a stepping stone for immigrant youth to become politically active, to gain exposure to different streams of social justice work, and to share responsibility for building a movement based on principles of social inclusion and justice” (United We Dream). The organization is broken into regional branches and they hold several training conferences throughout the year. The song below is often performed at United We Dream events. It was created by a member of the organization. It beautifully shows the struggle and determination of illigal immigrant youth.

The United States Student Association (USSA) also is dedicated to advocating for the DREAM Act. This organization works with college students across the United States. Members of this organization have lobbied state and federal officals to support the legislation. In 2009 USSA dedicated it yearly Legislative Conference to promote the DREAM Act. The hundreds of students who attended, organized a rally in Washington D.C. in support. Below is a video of the rally.

Pictured above is a Student Immigrant Movement of Massachusetts action in front of the Massachusetts State House. Participants gathered in support of the DREAM act.

Students close to home have also organized around the DREAM Act. The Student Immigrant Movement of Massachusetts have been active in this mission. The group was founded in 2005 and its mission is to mobilize student leaders to advocate for Higher Education rights for immigrants. One of the organizations most successful campaigns was “Why We Can’t Wait”. The major action of this campaign was highly successful. Over 400 students, parents and supporters of immigrant communities gathered at the steps of the Massachusetts State house to demand equal access to higher education for immigrant students. See picture of participants above.

Pictured above, Cesar Vargas “fears his hard work has been for nothing.” Source: New York Times

Recently an immigrants story was published in the New York Times. Cesar Vargas immigrated from Mexico at the age of 5. He grew up in the United States and attended public school. He was able to continue to college and law school. Vargas was known as an excellent student. He even interned with a Supreme Court judge. Not surprisingly Vargas passed his BAR exam after graduating from law school. However, he has been prohibited to practice law because he is an illegal immigrant. Stories such as Cesar Vargas’s show how immigrant students need better support. The DREAM act would give  undocumented students the freedom of pursing their dreams in higher education settings.

By: Meghan Long 

Student Movements Today: Facing Student Debt

One of the largest problems students face today is the issue of student debt. College costs more than it ever has before and students are graduating from places of higher education with thousands of dollars owed in student loans. Not only is this an astronomical amount of money owed by our student population but the job market is daunting for many. Without employment many find themselves asking the question “how am I ever going to pay this back?” The increasing student debt has become baggage that many young people feel weighed down by.

The total amount of debt owed by students has hit the $1.2 trillion mark, bringing it to the second highest form of consumer debt behind mortgages. This is extremely troubling and worrisome to many students, educators and economists. The total debt is climbing and so are the interest rates. This year the rate on subsidized loans was around four percent and recent legislation has put a ten year cap at 8.5 for undergraduate, 9.5 for graduate students and 10.5 for parents! Certain politicians, such as the Tea Party conservatives, want to set interest rates in a way that will generate revenue to cover the national deficit.

A shocking reality is that certain private corporations have had growing profit margins because of student debt. Companies like Sallie Mae have benefited from the increasing debt because they can borrow at incredibly low rates from Federal Home Loan banks. Sallie Mae now owns approximately 15 percent of the national student debt ($162.5 billion). This allowed Sallie Mae to make $2.5 billion in interest payments from student loans last year. These large corporations are making profits while the students are suffering. The negative effects that many students will face by not being able to pay back their loans will be faced for years. The repercussions of defaulting on a loan are not just felt immediately but years down the road as well.

Corporations like Sallie Mae are not the only ones reaping a profit. The education department itself has been making enormous profits in the last few years. In the fiscal year of 2013 they made $42.5 billion in profit from federal student loans. This profit margin is actually higher than the total amount of Pell Grants and student aid offered for low-income families. Many students are asking why the government and the educational system in the US do not use more of that profit to give aid to students in need rather than try and pay off deficit. Politicians are trying to fix national problems at the cost of our nation’s students. The increased amount of debt that so many are facing means that less and less students are able to make large investments or purchases, of things like homes, upon graduation. There is a growing number of graduates who are stuck at home because they can not afford to be financially independent.

If you are one of the 37 million students who is in debt or if you are going to graduate from college or university in the next few years this issue is deeply important to you. The most important thing is not to be afraid to speak up. If students remain silent our financial treatment will remain stagnant. There are many examples of students participating in successful protests dating all the way back to the 1930’s. Many protests have been organized already and there is a massive online movement of students and other citizens organizing against this mistreatment of students. If you are interested in signing petitions against the increasing student debt get connected with the studentdebtcrisis.org. When enough voices are raised in unison the government will have no choice but to listen and change its policies. There have been successful protests already including this one in Delaware outside Sallie Mae headquarters which took place back in May of this year when many students were graduating and finding themselves in a large amount of debt. If you are one of the millions of people affected by student debt do not remain silent, this issue is one that will only get worse for future students if it remains unchecked. Our country faces a huge financial crisis in the near future if something is not done to change the way we approach student debt.Graham Greenland

Meghan’s Monologue

May 1935

State University of New York (SUNY)

I am a student at the State University of New York (SUNY). I am a senior studying to become a teacher one day. I would like to speak about my experience as a college student during the 1930s. When I first came to college I was an optimist. I wanted to earn a degree that would help me get a meaningful job after graduation. My family was very happy to see me go to college. I am from a long line of

college graduates. My family is upper to middle class people. My father used to run his own business and my mother did not have to work. College life started off great for me. Although it was two years into the Great Depression my family and peers had not been too affected yet. I had so much fun going to football games and even joined a sorority.

However, this year things began to change. Over the summer my father lost his job and my parents have been struggling to make ends meet. I now pay for a large sum of my tuition which is very difficult. When I came back to school after the summer it seemed liked so many of my peers were having financial struggles. The crash was starting to really affected us. To make matters worse the University had to cut financial aid and scholarship funds more than in half.  It seemed liked everything on campus was being cut. Some of the sororities and fraternities on campus had to close due to lack of funds. The university administration did little to help students. However, professors were very supportive. One of my history professors Mr. Thomas spent most of our class time discussing how we were feeling about the current economic situation. He would listen to our complaints and help us understand what was going on. Everyone loved his class because it was nice to have a place to vent about what was going on. Students really needed a space to talk about their problems.

It was my involvement in greek life that got me involved in the radical movement at SUNY. One of my greek brothers was an editor for the student newspaper The Student. This was a student lead newspaper. The students who started this newspaper did not like being censored by faculty advisors. The newspaper covered topics that students wanted to write and read about. My greek brother was covering a rally organized by the Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID) and the Young Peoples Socialist League. He asked me to tag along and help him report on the event. The rally was amazing. Nearly 200 students from New York Universities attended. They were protesting college ROTC programs. I was struck by all the student speakers. Like me they were frustrated with how the Great Depression was effecting their lives. And they did not like how the government and high education institutions were handling the crash. What was even more exciting to me was that the SLID was actually doing something about it. They were taking action steps to create change. Their determination and vision for a better world persuaded me join the movement.

I continued to help my school’s chapter of the SLID organize anti- ROTC demonstrations. Many students were expelled for participating. The President of our school referred to us as guttersnipes, and soon many students were sporting buttons that said, “l am a Guttersnipe.” My family was also concerned about my involvement. My father especially feared that to have a daughter who was known to be a radical would endanger his job. He made me promise not to do anything that would get me into trouble.

I was lucky to be apart of the radical student movement during 1934 and 1935. During this year the Student Strike Against War was organized. This campaign consumed our lives. We spent hours organizing and contacting student groups across the country. The first strike was small but in 1935 many students across the nation participated. The success of this campaign brought together the SLID and communist-led National Student League, to form the American Student Union (ASU) to unify the anti-war struggle.

As I get ready to graduate I am grateful that I have found the radical student movement. I plan to continue my involvement with the movement when I graduate. Right now this movement makes sense. Our country is crumbling. However, I have learned that students can make a difference.

Monologue adapted from SLID Autobiographies: http://newdeal.feri.org/students/autobios.htm