Review of Campus uprisings: How student activists and collegiate leaders resist racism and create hope

Tracing institutional change: How student activism concerning diversity facilitates administrative action.

“…For contemporary student activists like those involved in #Con-cernedStudent1950, social media platforms, such as Twitter, are an important tool for amplifying messaging and broadening reach (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011;Douglas et al, 2020;Morgan & Davis, 2019) in the interest of garnering wide-ranging support, activating peripheral members and potential supporters (Steinert-Threlkeld, 2017), and reaching a critical mass supportive of their goals (Oliver et al, 1985;Oliver & Marwell, 1988). Social media has drastically changed the landscape for activism in general, and students have taken advantage of the networked capabilities offered by social media platforms to enhance and expand the tactics they use to effect change (Biddix, 2010;Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011;Douglas et al, 2020;Morgan & Davis, 2019).…”

“…From 17th and 18th century rebellions against administrative overreach in the form of in loco parentis (Rhoads, 1998), the Civil Rights student movements of the 1960s (Biondi, 2012;Bradley, 2010Bradley, , 2018Soule, 1997), the multiculturalism movements of the 1990s (Rhoads, 1998), and the contemporary student movements focused on racial justice, students have been at the center of those calls for institutional change (Broadhurst, 2014;Byrd et al, 2021;Douglas et al, 2020;Morgan & Davis, 2019;Rhoads, 1998). The widespread campus protests of the 1960s, reflecting the broader Civil Rights Movement, helped to set the foundation for efforts to "diversify" college campuses, which included increasing enrollment of underrepresented racial groups, addressing discrimination and prejudice, and establishing ethnic studies departments and identity-based organizations, and so forth (Biondi, 2012;Chang, 2018b;Cole, 2020;Douglas et al, 2020;Rhoads, 1998). Contemporary student efforts to facilitate institutional change continue to draw from those pioneered in the 1960s, including employing sit-ins, strikes, marches, and demonstrations (Barnhardt, 2015;Broadhurst, 2014;Morgan & Davis, 2019).…”

“…Previous equity-driven activism like that centered on Black studies (Biondi, 2012) and divestment (Soule, 1997) emphasized contentious campus action to showcase the viability of activist demands. At the local level (e.g., colleges and universities), institutional and administrative acknowledgment of activists is crucial for their success (Douglas et al, 2020;Morgan & Davis, 2019).…”

“…Contemporary activists are aware of this and have adapted their own tactical repertoires to draw attention to themselves and their demands. That is, they draw from their peers at other campuses and learn from off-campus activism to improve upon existing tactical repertoires (Barnhardt, 2014(Barnhardt, , 2015Tarrow, 2011;Tilly & Tarrow, 2015) and to construct wholly new disruptive and attention-getting performances (Barnhardt, 2014;Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011;Douglas et al, 2020;Morgan & Davis, 2019;Soule, 1997). More recently, students have been early innovators in adopting and leveraging the power of social media to accentuate those tactics.…”

“…More recently, students have been early innovators in adopting and leveraging the power of social media to accentuate those tactics. They have used social media to spread information, share resources, recruit supporters, and diversify their support base, garnering the attention of third parties (e.g., the media, similar activist organizations) to exert tremendous pressure on the institutions they are mobilizing against (Douglas et al, 2020;Morgan & Davis, 2019;Tilly & Tarrow, 2015). Social media, effectively, has become a reliable way for activists to amplify their messaging and expedite institutional acknowledgment and response to the demands central to their cause.…”