Campus Greens Organize.

• Author: Karlsberg, Jesse

This summer, from August 9-12, 2001, 420 student, faculty, and campus activists gathered at the university of illinois in Chicago to democratically found the Campus Greens. The attendees enjoyed four days filled with workshops, speakers, panel discussions, a Super Rally, and a busy plenary. The delegates ratified bylaws, elected a steering committee, and developed a sophisticated set of vision statements, strategies, and resource committees. The Campus Greens emerged from the Convention as an official and robust Green organization.

Much of the momentum that led to the success of the Founding Convention is rooted in the energy Green campaigns in 2000 brought to college and high-school campuses. 900 campuses formed Students for Nader groups that organized around the campaign, firmly establishing young voters as a core of the Green movement.

After the elections, many of the students, faculty, and other campus community members who had worked on the Nader campaign came together to find a way to build on the intense Green energy the Nader campaign had stimulated. After a couple of weeks of online discussion, the students founded the Campus Greens, a non-profit organization, and drafted and distributed a Call to Action. This document, which declares the group's commitment to the Ten Key Values of the Greens, quickly circulated around the country, leading chapter after chapter to affiliate with the organization. In the Spring of 2001, the Campus Greens' Green Heat campaign mobilized hundreds of students on American campuses to attend the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas protests at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. This campaign raised the visibility of the Campus Greens and drove the student effort to mobilize around the issue of international trade.

The Campus Greens next turned to the important task of organizing a convention where the group could be founded officially and democratically by its grassroots members. Over the summer 13 student interns worked full time out of Madison, WI and Chicago, planning events and schedules, finding space for the convention, obtaining housing for the attendees, contacting potential speakers, and reaching out to Campus Greens members across the country. The field team networked with numerous state and regional contacts who intensified the outreach effort. A team in Chicago was charged with the task of planning a Super Rally for the Friday night of the Convention.

The result of the interns' efforts...