PA Student Power, a statewide student led organization has reached the Kutztown University campus.Through PA student power students can organize to support a wide variety of social justice issues, a few of which are free and accessible college for all, ending mass incarceration and raising the minimum wage. The goal is to build long term progressive power.
Students can do this in a variety of ways of their own choosing. On their campus they can plan and host events such as but not limited to a panel, an art show, a peaceful protest showcasing a cause they support. For example last semester a day of action was put in place across 21 campuses in Pennsylvania in protest of hate groups on campus.
A key point in making change happen is voting and PA student power recognizes this. When speaking with students to encourage civic engagement they hand them the PAStudent Power Pledge. On this paper the student writes their contact information in order to be notified of important events, they promise to vote at elections and they write down any issues that are particularly important to them. One big setback for a lot of people when it comes to voting is that they don’t have the information on candidates they need to make the right voting decision. To solve this dilemma PA student power is putting together voter guides so students can see candidates running in their districts and the policies they support.
PA student Power while only being on the scene for the past two years has made many contacts and connected those contacts with it’s students. This past summer PA Student Power students were able to meet Representative Jordan Harris who signed their pledge to support CollegeForAll, an initiative PAStudent Power is undertaking to get all representatives to support free and accessible college education.
PAStudent Power is continuing big moves this year and it’s never too early to join the movement!