Ask students and most will give little nods of recognition if you mention names like Rainbow Alliance, SEED (Students for Ecological and Environmental Development) or STAND (Students Take Action Now Darfur). But what do most really know about what our campus activism groups are up to?

From my perspective, we don’t. “I know who they are, but I don’t really know much about what they do or anything,” said Josh Weinstock, a Medill junior.

Tim Wang, a Weinberg sophomore, spoke in the same vein. “I know the names [of these groups], but aside from that I don’t know much about them.”

“Northwestern’s level of involvement is low, especially compared to other colleges,” said Chelsea Baldino, a Weinberg sophomore and a member of SEED. Going only by what you hear on the grapevine, that’s easy to believe. The thing is, it’s not the whole truth.

Rainbow Alliance’s 2008 drag show. Photo by Vi-An Nguyen / North by Northwestern

When it comes to activism, Northwestern may not always seem to be the most outspoken. At first glance, being aware of campus activism, participating in community service and generally spending time to champion these causes definitely aren’t part of our daily activities.

But just because we don’t have picketers in the snow or hunger strikes doesn’t mean Northwestern is activism-deficient. Take a closer look at our activism groups and you’ll see that Northwestern isn’t lagging in taking stands or making statements.

“We try to have at least one big event each quarter,” Jonathan Rosenblatt, one of the presidents of STAND and a Weinberg junior, explained while running an awareness-raising event out in the morning chill. “We had a genocide survivor panel two years ago, with survivors from the Holocaust, Cambodia, Darfur, Rwanda…they just went up and told their stories and it was a very effective display of the effects of genocide.”

Weinberg sophomore Emily Wright, co-president of SEED, discussed all of the recycling, educational and awareness initiatives that they lead. For example, SEED sponsors the Green Cup, which encourages energy-conservation in all the dorms. “We also do a lot of service,” she said. “Our biggest activity is Prairie Project, where we go out to the forest preserve around the Chicago area and help them with whatever they need.”

For quantitative evidence, take a look at group numbers. Rainbow has 300 members on its listserv, around 200-300 attendees for its large events such as its annual drag show, and on some weeks has as few as six to ten students attend smaller meetings or events. SEED has over 600 members on its listserv, around 100 members who have “about medium-level dedication”, and 30 to 50 members who show up to all meetings. STAND draws over 100 students per rally or demonstration, while 10 to 20 people show up for weekly meetings.

Though these number may seem small in comparison to the 8000 undergrads that attend Northwestern, let’s look at activism groups at Loyola University, a college of similar location and size at around 9000 undergrads. How do we compare?

Advocate, Loyola’s GLBTQ activism group, and SEA, their Student Environmental Alliance, seem to be quite similar to our Rainbow and SEED: they organize campus events to build awareness and create off-campus outreach programs. Allison Steele, president of Advocate at Loyola, said that while not all students there are highly active and involved, “most tend to find time to actually help out in one way or another…to at least go to an event.”

Advocate has 150 to 200 members on its listserv, over 150 event-attendees, and around 50 students per weekly meeting; two years ago this group was even smaller, with meeting attendance rates of 15 to 20 students. Meanwhile, SEA has 600 members on its listserv, 40 “pretty active” ones, and 15 to 20 members who most frequently attend. Proportionally, these numbers are comparable, and in some cases, smaller than ours. Northwestern group sizes aren’t deficient at all.

Really, there’s more activism happening on campus than it first appears, because it’s hidden under a veneer of easy-to-make generalizations that most students seem to believe. If more people moved past first impressions and really looked for activism on campus, they’d find more than enough going on that they could easily participate in.

Could Northwestern activism groups do more? Of course, as any group could — with more resources, more funding, and a more willing pool of student activists. While campus activism doesn’t appear to be as prominent as it is, the reality is that groups can’t promote awareness to people who don’t want to participate in campus activism, nor can they make a splash with small numbers of willing student activists. So if you want to complain, join a group. Help them make a difference, and kill two birds with one stone.