Fighting apathy with 'Drexel Votes 2008'
William Mulgrew
Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: Ed-Op
However, the heightened level of activism quickly waned. The Political Action Coalition folded without hosting any events. The Student Program Board stopped booking noteworthy speakers. The Faculty Council withdrew its support of the pre-election holiday and administrators declined to poll students on whether it should have been adopted. Opined one student in The Triangle, "Drexel has never been a Berkeley, or a Kent State, or even a Temple… The ensuing events led one to believe that a student voice was rather worthless and that to be heard was not always to be listened to."
The Student Program Board booked anti-war actress Jane Fonda in the summer of 1979 to discuss "the economics of democracy," but withdrew when it learned that she intended to campaign in Center City for Jerry Brown's presidential bid on the same day.
By 1980, administrators collaborated with Student Congress and dissolved the SPB, creating in its place an administrator-controlled Student Program Association.
As one SPB member publicly complained, "How are we to learn to run things in the future if the administration won't even allow us the opportunity to run our own organizations? Don't they think we are capable?"
The trend didn't stop there. Administrators gradually stripped the responsibility of recognizing and funding student clubs from the Student Congress as well. Soon the funding of political and religious clubs was canceled altogether. Without funding, political clubs must pay for everything out of pocket or through fundraising. The University recently signaled that this policy will be changed.
The College Republicans maintained a steady presence since 1991, mostly because the national organization has been organized for over a hundred years. The College Democrats suffered as a national organization when President Lyndon B. Johnson cut off their funding from the Democratic National Committee because they opposed him on the Vietnam War.
This hasn't been the case for the Drexel Democrats. Recently, they held voter registration drives outside the Dinning Hall and Drexel Book Store and launched a blog. The College Republicans have yet to renew their University recognition.
The Student Program Board booked anti-war actress Jane Fonda in the summer of 1979 to discuss "the economics of democracy," but withdrew when it learned that she intended to campaign in Center City for Jerry Brown's presidential bid on the same day.
By 1980, administrators collaborated with Student Congress and dissolved the SPB, creating in its place an administrator-controlled Student Program Association.
As one SPB member publicly complained, "How are we to learn to run things in the future if the administration won't even allow us the opportunity to run our own organizations? Don't they think we are capable?"
The trend didn't stop there. Administrators gradually stripped the responsibility of recognizing and funding student clubs from the Student Congress as well. Soon the funding of political and religious clubs was canceled altogether. Without funding, political clubs must pay for everything out of pocket or through fundraising. The University recently signaled that this policy will be changed.
The College Republicans maintained a steady presence since 1991, mostly because the national organization has been organized for over a hundred years. The College Democrats suffered as a national organization when President Lyndon B. Johnson cut off their funding from the Democratic National Committee because they opposed him on the Vietnam War.
This hasn't been the case for the Drexel Democrats. Recently, they held voter registration drives outside the Dinning Hall and Drexel Book Store and launched a blog. The College Republicans have yet to renew their University recognition.
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