Fairfield University is renowned for many things. However, its political activism is not usually one of them.
Allegations of political apathy have long plagued the Fairfield student body.
There are often various reasons given, but many students agree: Fairfield students are not politically active.
“It just doesn’t seem that Fairfield fosters political involvement,” said Caitlin Rose ’08. “Maybe it is because students already come from politically inactive homes or areas, but it is also not prevalent or reinforced on campus.”
However, politics professor John Orman thinks Fairfield’s apathy is far from unique.
“Fairfield students are as active as all other American university students,” he said. “But American University students aren’t that political.”
While some students may not deem themselves political, it may be because they separate global events from the political sphere.
Michelle Onofrio ’11 said she is not politically conscious, but she does stay on top of world issues.
“I do know some problems that are going on in the world right now. For example, Somalia’government is corrupt – action needs to be taken to change that,” she said.
Hence, when tragedies and events may bring about a desire to help and volunteer for change, they may not spark political commitment.
But regardless of whether Fairfield’s lack of political activism is common throughout the country, students and faculty alike are attempting to raise awareness and involvement throughout the University.
The main goal of clubs such as College Democrats and College Republicans is to foster political action around Fairfield.
Frank Fraioli ’08, president of College Democrats, agrees that political apathy is a major obstacle but one he hopes to overcome.
“The problems with motivating students are universal to both clubs, though the College Republicans historically have a bigger base to work from, so they generally have it easier,” said Fraioli.
“However, that doesn’t mean that they have necessarily been able to transfer that large base into tangible gains as they did in years past,” he said.
“The College Democrats are hoping to do a variety of awareness events and information campaigns as the year goes on,” Orman said, adding that the spring presidential primaries will probably garner interest.
In addition, he hopes to hold a debate between the College Republicans and Democrats to increase attention and student participation.
Faculty members are also working to help Fairfield overcome the stereotype.
Professor of politics Jocelyn Boryczka is attempting to battle apathy both inside and outside the classroom.
As part of her introduction to feminist thought course, students are required to fulfill a service-learning requirement, which involves political action within the community.
“It’s an attempt to get students to think about actions outside of the Fairfield University community, to not let what they learn stop inside the classroom,” she said.
In addition, she is working to organize a group of students, faculty and staff to attend a war protest on Oct. 27 in New York City, arguing that political apathy has, in part, led to apathy about the war in Iraq.
“Students need to get out of their little community,” Boryczka added, “because when they go out into the world they will more likely want to stay involved.”
Christopher Staysniak ’10, president of Students for Social Justice on campus, agreed with Boryczka.
“I think Fairfield students for the most part do care about innumerable issues ranging from global warming, to poverty, to you name it,” he said.
“But I think when you live in a bubble as isolated and detached from reality as this campus can be, sometimes it’s hard to get truly passionate about an issue to the point where you throw your actions behind it through some form of activism or political involvement,” he said.
Aimee Trainor ’08 thinks that efforts to motivate students to become more interested in politics may be futile.
“I think it is great that people are working together on important issues like politics and the war, but unfortunately I think a lot of students still just simply wont care,” she said.
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