| Current Projects-Spring 2000 1. Communication between groups Future Projects |
WESUNITY's Mission Talk to any student leader and she will tell you that activism at Wesleyan is plagued by apathy, a lack of commitment or overcommitment by members, an indifferent or even hostile administration, little sense of continuity from year to year, early burnout for group leaders, a lack of support from faculty, and feelings of isolation from other activists. WESUNITY's Role WESUNITY was formed in the spring of 1998 to deal with these issues. It was originally intended to revitalize activism at Wesleyan by helping groups to form connections to other schools and national organizations. The idea was to help bring Wesleyan's groups into a larger movement. The movement would provide support and encouragement for Wesleyan activists, and would help convince Wesleyan students that student groups really are working to make a difference and that we understand that alone, Wesleyan can't change the world. WESUNITY's Restructuring The original model, of training and encouraging unattached students
to join student groups for the sole purpose of helping them create networks, was not a
success. The focus changed to encouraging student groups to share their contact info
at other schools with each other (i.e. the animal rights folks at Yale would probably know
the contact for the labor group...), and connecting Wesleyan activists with national
clearinghouses like the Center for Campus Organizing. We
also encourage activists to take on WESUNITY campaigns that would both benefit their groups, and activism in general. WESUNITY's New Focus In the winter of 1999, WESUNITY began to build the foundation that would make external collaboration feasible. The first task was to centralize and streamline communication between on-campus groups. Information as basic as what groups existed, what they were working on, and how to contact them was not readily available.In January of 1999, WESUNITY created a website with the help of ITS for news and events at Wesleyan that deal with Wesleyan's activist and student of color groups. We also created a more informal discussion forum, an automated email list. Any member of a Wesleyan campus group can subscribe to the list, and send information about events, or requests for help, to representatives of every activist or student of color group on campus. This purpose of this was to avoid conflicts between group events, and to encourage collaboration among groups. Working with the WSA office, we put contact information for every student group online, as well as the very informative WSA Student Group Resource Manual. Soon after, with the help of reporter Scott Mayerowitz '00, we added a section on contacting the media. In the winter of 2000 we added a guide on using technology for student groups. This complements the new positions of technology assistants to student groups which will begin in early 2000. The assistants are work-study positions funded by the SBC, and work as consultants to student groups for projects ranging from creating email lists, and webpages to publishing newsletters and doing graphic design. Furthermore, working with Professors Johnston and Vann of the History department, as well as the University Archivists, Roger Smith organized a history tutorial on the history of student life at Wesleyan for the fall of 1999, and again for the spring of 2000. Topics range from the history of Queer life at Wesleyan, to attempts to get rid of Malcolm X House, to the beginning of environmentalism at Wesleyan. The research papers written in this course will be stored in the archives, and made available by WESUNITY technology staffers on the Wesleyan home page. WESUNITY's Future Realizing how impermanent student groups are, Roger Smith of WESUNITY is working to make WESUNITY's projects sustainable from year to year. The WSA-funded technology staffers will be able to take on the time-consuming jobs of updating webpages and assisting student groups that current WESUNITY members do for free. For the first time, activists like Abe Walker '03 and Phil Gentry '02 are have become interested in WESUNITY's projects enough to continue them into the future. Student Services has just hired Rajesh Bellani to assist student groups as Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development. Bellani should work closely with WESUNITY members and Cari MacDermott of the WSA office to define his position as a resource for Wesleyan's student groups. Bellani will be in charge of WESLEAD, a yearly program organized by staff and students to help train future group leaders and provide an opportunity for group leaders to meet. Ultimately, Bellani, the WSA, WESUNITY, and other student groups need to work together to fight for space in the upcoming University Center. The goal is to create a centralized place where both resources and training are available for activists. This space will bring students who have united around a particular issue into a community of concerned students. The Student Union is an answer to the problems currently faced by student groups. Part of the cause of apathy is a sense that little is being accomplished by activity. This has some truth to it, as the excessive fragmentation among student groups ensures that little gets done. Dozens of five person groups can only do so much without working together. We need to restructure activism at Wesleyan, recognizing that our goals are compatible, and that it makes sense to work in principled alliance with other groups. Until we repackage activism, we will continue to have hundreds of people signing up for every group on campus during the activities fair. If they understood that Wesleyan's student groups were working together toward a shared vision, they might feel that they could work towards their ideals by only joining one or two. The Student Union will provide a place for face-to-face conversation and dialogue among student leaders, and will make resources easily available to all. For a page of potential projects visit future.html. Updated by Roger Smith '01 in January 2000 back to Wesunity |
| WESUNITY in the NEWS Articles 1. Argus - Oct 9, 1998 2. Grail Magazine - November 1998 3. Argus - Jan 26, 1999 4. Argus - Jan 26, 1999 5. Infusion - Mar/Apr 1999 6. Argus - Apr 9, 1999 7. Hermes - April 1999 8. Hermes - September 1999 Argus WESPEAKS 1. Nov 10, 1998 2. Feb 9, 1999 3. Feb 26, 1999 4. Mar 3, 1999 5. Mar 30, 1999
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