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Campus Activism Ideas & Examples

Activism is inclusive of a wide range of events and programming. It can encompass anything from informative meetings, panel discussions, speeches or flyering campaigns to large rallies and protests.

  • Participating in national campaigns
    The primary goal of the Speaker's Bureau service is to educate the community about the issues and concerns of lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgendered people. We believe that education is the key to breaking down stereotypes. We share information about our lives and experiences in hope of building connections with others in our community, and ultimately of overcoming homophobia and gender oppression.

    — University of Kansas Queers and Allies
  • Speakers bureaus – this is a collection of LGBT students who go to classes, residence halls or other student organizations’ meetings to speak about their personal experiences coming out and increase awareness about issues facing the LGBT community.
  • Putting on plays with social commentary about LGBT issues
    • Examples: The Laramie Project, Stop Kiss, Angels in America, Take Me Out, The Last Sunday in June, RENT
  • Combine art & activism – hold art contests, make posters and hang them around campus!
    • Spoken word, open mic nights and slam poetry events are great ways to get people involved and passionate about LGBT issues.
    • Have a video contest/create a video highlighting an issue or campaign on your campus and post it on your group’s website
  • Kiss-ins! Take a stand against homophobia by organizing a public display of same-sex affection in a highly trafficked area of your campus.
  • Officiate mock marriages. Get some same-sex duos together and hold a demonstration by tying the knot and making a statement about marriage equality.
  • Utilize student/faculty resolutions and petitions
    • Resolutions and petitions are effective ways to show support for your cause. Distribute petition forms, start a postcard drive or submit names to be published in your school paper. The actual delivery of the petition or postcards can be a strategic component in your campaign.
  • Draft proposals to the administration
    • Make your purpose and the need clear in your proposal. In order to strengthen your proposal, use examples from other college groups as a resource.
    Example!
    After a hate crime on campus, students in the Georgetown University Pride organization drafted a proposal to their administration asking that it commit to building and funding a new LGBT Resource Center. This was the first step in a campaign that resulted in Georgetown becoming the first Jesuit University to fully endorse and fund an LGBT campus resource center.
  • Organize Town Hall Meetings to create a space for community members to discuss the issues.
    • These meetings can be especially important if your administration is not responsive to your demands or proposals. Organize a meeting and invite as many people (students, faculty, staff, and administrative allies) as possible to talk about a strategic next move.
  • Holding rallies or protests – many student groups mobilized after the 2008 elections in which three states passed anti-LGBT marriage amendments. Student groups across the nation organized rallies on their campuses and around their local communities to protests the passage of Proposition 8 in California.
    With activism, it can sometimes come in spurts in response to something that happens. There’s been an outburst of anti-gay violence in our town, so it really makes people feel the need to get involved.

    — Jarret Henson, Activism Chair, KU Queers and Allies (Lawrence, KS)
  • Radical cheerleading – combining protest with performance.
    We have been talking a lot about issues of the gender climate on this campus, which is hostile, and upon discovering that gender identity and gender expression were not even covered in the harassment policy, we decided it was necessary to take action.

    — Jessica Baverman, Spectrum at Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA)
  • Organizing large-scale campaigns against discriminatory policies or to petition for a new policy or LGBT resource.
    Note!
    Campaigns are different from demonstrations. While demonstrations are usually isolated and reactionary to a particular incident, campaigns involve a more extensive strategy in which several demonstrations, forums and other programming events are organized for a cause.
    Example!
    After discovering that only sexual orientation was included in Dickinson College’s non-discrimination policy, students in their LGBT group began working on a petition to add gender identity and gender expression.
  • Pay attention to local, state, and national politics – organize around anti-LGBT legislation and the politicians who support these bills. Alternatively, make sure representatives supporting pro-LGBT legislation such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act know they have on-campus support.
  • Phone banking for pro-LGBT political candidates and legislation or against discriminatory policies and candidates.