To the reader:
There is a rich tradition of organizing for peace and justice on
U.S. college campuses, but too often students have no access to the
wealth of experience and skills accumulated by previous generations of
activists. Each year, hundreds of students "reinvent the wheel" by
struggling to learn basic activism skills from scratch. The purpose of
this guidebook is to provide a missing link, to get campus activists of
the 90s started more quickly, building upon the work of their
predecessors and of students at other campuses.
We could have created a mammoth 80-page encyclopedia on organizing,
but lengthy guides already exist to hone the skills of organizing
"experts." We also could have created a guide on a single-issue, but it
would quickly be outdated.
Instead, we decided to design a basic, introductory guide to serve
the thousands of student activists just getting their feet wet. We have
tried wherever possible to avoid assumptions based on race, gender, type
of college, etc. to make this guide useful to everyone. This guide is
by no means the comprehensive or final word on how to organize. It is
not a blueprint for activism, but as a set of guidelines and suggestions
distilled from our experience. Since every situation is different, you
will have to adapt the specifics to your own campus and campus group.
Activism is an ongoing experience of learning, and we highly recommend
you explore some of the resources listed in the Bibliography, as well as
constantly apply your own experience to established principles of
organizing.
This Guide is intended for activists who want to increase
participation by and equality for all groups in society, and address the
root causes of social, economic, and political injustice. It is not
designed for "new right" groups who want to protect and reinforce the
status quo, "sectarian" groups who demand allegiance only to their own
ideology or dogma, or service groups who address symptoms with no
interest in confronting root causes.
Specific information on a particular peace and justice issue, while
not included in this guide, is available in 2-page inserts which can be
ordered from the Center for Campus Organizing. We thank Citizens for
Participation in Political Action, Young Koreans United, DC Student
Coalition Against Racism, Fellowship of Reconciliation, American Friends
Service Committee, National Student Campaign Against Hunger and
Homelessness, Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, and National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force for their help in preparing the first of
what will become over 25 such inserts on a wide range of issues (see
inside back cover for details).
One final appeal. This service will not attract the money of the
rich and powerful groups that fuel the right. We were fortunate to
receive some seed funding from progressive foundations. But in the long
run, we feel that CCO can best be supported by donors who are now or
were once campus activists, so that the infrastructure we create will
not need to be torn down and rebuilt every six years as funding patterns
shift. We invite your financial support by subscribing to our
newsletter, Study War No More, or by making a tax-exempt donation. We
also invite new student activists and professors to become CCO campus
contacts to help us stay in touch with the grassroots and help you stay
in touch with the national movement.

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