Seventy University of Virginia students gathered this weekend at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg for the Virginia Power Shift convergence, joining 200 others in what is designed to be an event that brings students together and empowers them to constructively address societal issues.
Event organizer Drew Gallagher said the idea for the gathering first came from the Energy Action Coalition and is meant to
“Power Shift is an event that was originally founded by the Energy Action Coalition,” said event organizer Drew Gallagher said in an email. “The idea is to bring together as many youth as possible to organize around environmental and social justice issues, and build lasting youth power. Every two years there is a national power shift, and other regional ones happen when groups decide to organize them.”
Gallagher said the event — which took place at Virginia Tech in 2011 and Virginia Commonwealth University in 2014 — has become increasingly popular. This year he was expecting more than double the previous attendance.
“Especially exciting is the enormous growth we have seen over the course of these events. In 2011 and 2014 roughly 130 people attended,” Gallagher said. “This year we are expecting over 400 students from over 15 universities and a handful of high schools.”
Nine Virginia institutions were represented at VAPS this year and the program spanned three days, starting with the Virginia March for Divestment and followed by two days of workshops, action, panels and speakers.
Panels covered a variety of topics, including How to Start a Labor Solidarity Campaign by Morgan Currier of United Students Against Sweatshops and Economic Gender Justice Organizing in the South by Y.M. Carrington of the Lavender Kitchen Sink Collective.
Curry School Assoc. Prof. Walt Heinecke helped lead the discussion Neoliberalism and Capitalism in Environmental Movements and Higher Education. He said events like VAPS are critical to strong education and are fitting in Jefferson’s vision for student self-enlightenment.
“Education has a significant role in the discussion of political and social issues,” Heinecke said in an email. “Jefferson built the University expressly for this purpose. One of the most important purposes of university education is to prepare the citizen for active participation in the governance of our society. I spoke about neoliberalism, corporatization, commercialization and the threats they pose to this fundamental purpose of the university education.”
Heinecke said the topics discussed at the event are important to consider and help to foster a stronger democracy and healthy social structure.
“Student activism and the topics discussed at the conference such as divestment from fossil fuels, environmental degradation [and] student loan debt are crucial to the survival of democracy in the U.S.,” Heinecke said. “Universities should be sites of democracy and public discussion and critique of social institutions. Students engaged in active political and social work is vital to the health of our democracies.”
Gallagher said while he thinks climate change is the greatest threat to his generation, other issues include the corporatization and privatization of higher education, as well as continued racism and discrimination. He said the goal of VAPS is to discuss these problems and to illuminate ways as to how they can be approached.
“Goals of VAPS include training students on how to take actions in their communities on issues they care about,” Gallagher said. “We are striving to build youth power to forge a collective future that is equitable for all. We want students to network and learn from each other.”
Gallagher said the hope is that students emerged from the convergence with clear goals and implementation plans with a solid groundwork for future student action across the state.
“U.Va. and other Virginia public universities should be proud of these young student activists,” Heinecke said. “They are like the minutemen and women of our generation.”
The Virginia Student Environmental Coalition and Virginia Student Power Network helped to organize the event.
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