Many events seem to have caught the attention of the Colby College campus recently. Among these events were an SGA Presidential election marred by allegations of a campaign finance scandal, the increased presence of the Waterville Police Department, and the steep fines levied imposed by the State Liquor Inspector.

However, I believe that these were probably not the most important things that this campus had to deal with over the past nine months. A sit-in was held in President Cotter’s office only a few weeks ago, where a number of students voiced their concerns about allegations of “institutional racism” and the campus’s inaction in the face of these strong allegations. To me, this was probably the most important event that this campus has had to deal with this past year, but probably not for the reasons that you may think.

Whether or not the aforementioned allegations of racism are true, I think that the campus’s reaction to the sit-in is more indicative of a greater problem, which explains the reasons for the alleged inaction on the part of the college’s administration. I believe that this mindset also explains the lack of a heartened student response to these claims.

Some may call it apathy. Instead, I would call it a lack of awareness of what goes on beyond one’s immediate surroundings. A belief that one can affect the world- that one person can change policies which may seem beyond their control.

The only reason why numerous editorials were written in The Echo and why the campus was up in arms about the increased police presence on Mayflower Hill, was because they were directly affected by these developments. Soon, people found themselves having to pay $120 speeding tickets and being forced to obey campus stop signs. Had the police never come to Mayflower Hill, and instead people were able to roam free at Colby without the thought of a police cruiser nearby, then no one would have cared. But, people do care about this issue, and are constantly complaining and the campus is mobilizing.

However, because only a relatively few people are directly affected by “institutional racism” on this campus, most students did not react to the student sit-in as fervently as they did to the increased police presence. That’s sad, but from where I sit, it’s the truth.

One could then argue, “well, what can I do? I care, but feel that I have no outlets to express my feelings.” I think that it is important to realize that there are a number of committees that deal with pressing student issues. It seems to me that, more often than not, the majority of the people who sit on such committees, are generally people who are directly affected by the changes in the policy. It shouldn’t be that way. Students should not have to have a direct stake in an issue to care about it.

Furthermore, I think that all too often as students, we sometimes forget about the outside world and what goes on outside of Colby. It is important, however, to realize that things do go on in “the real world” and that we can fight for things. For example, when a movement in Maine was started whose goal was to overturn the Gay Rights amendment, students mobilized and many people registered to vote in Maine. More often than not, students do not do these things and events happen elsewhere without even a ripple of interest appearing among Colby students.

Now I am not suggesting that we can save the world single-handedly and that we should abandon our studies to take up the cause of social justice. I would applaud anyone who could do that. I would like to remind the student body that change may seem insignificant to some, but in most cases we can make a huge difference. The movement during the 1980’s to force colleges and universities to divest their interests in South Africa was largely a student-driven movement. Students around the country forced their respective administrations to reevaluate their financial positions and successfully fought to change many colleges’ policies.

I hope that we can look to the future and work as students as well as activists to better understand the two different worlds that we call home. We need to aggressively address problems at our school that not only affect us, but that may also affect the well being of others. We also need to step out of our “Colby bubble” and address problems beyond our sphere of recognition, because we can make a large difference in society.

Mark Paustenbach ’01 is the Editor-in-Chief of The Political Affairs Reader. He is majoring in Government and Spanish.

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