Activism and Chili Spreads the Word at BU

Activists gather in the Women's Resource Center for Activism and Chili: A Radical Potluck on Tuesday night. Photo by Evan Caughey.

Feminists, anarchists, vegans, vegetarians, anti-biological warfare advocates, Planned Parenthood advocates, GLBTQ activists, students for a sensible drug policy, sustainability proponents, democrats, pro-choicers… you name the group, and they are here at Boston University, as inconspicuous as they may be. Boston University is in fact filled with radical advocacy groups united by their common goal to promote causes they believe are worth fighting for and to counter the apathy they feel plagues the student body on campus.

But it is an uphill struggle, and if you have not heard about many – or any – of the advocacy groups that function on Boston University’s campus, it would not come as a surprise. Many advocate groups feel that they are severely underexposed and that something is missing in their missions to spur action amongst the student body: an awareness that such groups even exist. There is a wishful call to return back to the good old days of radical activism that use to be present at Boston University: one defined by the 1970s and the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.

Now, for the first time in recent memory, the activist army is coming together once again in an attempt to change the tide of activism at BU. On Tuesday the 23rd, members of a multitude of various radical activist groups, from feminists to animal rights activists, converged at the Women’s Resource Center to eat chili, discuss activism at BU and introduce their newest initiative: Disorientation.

Disorientation is not a planned move towards chaos. It is quite the opposite: an organized, cooperative effort by the plethora of groups on campus to inform incoming freshman at BU about the activist initiatives active at Boston University. The Disorientation would come in the form of a packet called “The Disorientation Guide” which would distributed to the student population to supplement the materials they receive at orientation. The objective of the Guide would be to provide unbiased information straight from activist groups about what they do and why students should be concerned. It carries the branding of ‘made for students, by students, just without any hint of bureaucracy to censor content.’

The Disorientation Guide is still very much in a fledgling stage. The meeting on Tuesday was mostly a brainstorming session at which different groups expressed what they would like to see in the booklet. The plan is for the book to be a collection of articles being submitted by a range of different groups.

One advocate talked of how she wants the incoming student body to know about BU’s controversial Biosafety Level-4 lab or “bioterror” lab, which is still awaiting risk assessments from the National Institute of Health and activists say could “pose catastrophic health and safety risks to the Greater Boston Area.” Another talked about spreading awareness with Muffy, the in-the-works wearable vulva, while others talked of the need to inform incoming freshman that there is strong support for better vegan options on campus. The scope of the Disorientation Guide would be broad, and the list of activist groups eager to contribute is as long as it is diverse.

The atmosphere at the meeting was one of excitement: excitement at the prospect of a definitive call to action at a campus that has been eerily dormant in recent times. Boston University has the potential to speak out; all it needs now is a voice.

If you’re interested in contributing to the BU Disorientation Guide or want to be involved in the strengthening activist community, please email buDISorientationguide@gmail.com .

About Evan Caughey

I am a 22 year old graphic design/creativity person who was born and reared in the wilds of Montana on a strict regiment of whiskey and bear wrestling. After completing most of high school I went and studied in India for two years, where I learned most of what I know now. Like how people of the subcontinent pronounce 'bowl' like 'bowel'. And other things that are important. After that, I came to Boston and started studying photojournalism at Boston University. This proved to be quite depressing, so I switched to advertising and became an alcoholic instead. (Just kidding.) I am now a Junior.

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