Students as Activists

Just as businessmen naturally are busy, so the essence of the student’s vocation, one must assume, is to study. Yet there exist persons who think that the student ought to give primacy to demonstrations and manifestos. Last summer, for instance, the headquarters of the United States National Student Association mailed to its student leaders a lengthy mimeographed document, somewhat cloaked in sociological jargon, the author of which argued, in effect, that students ought to spend their time perfecting society—and to let learning, if need be, go hang.

This study-document, one is happy to note, is not reflected in the “Codification of Policy” of the National Student Association issued after that body’s 1962 Congress. Indeed, the Codification puts the matter thus: “While recognizing that the student must devote primary attention to this academic program, the USNSA urges student participation in legitimate social and political activities.”

RK

About the Author

Russell Kirk

Just as businessmen naturally are busy, so the essence of the student’s vocation, one must assume, is to study. Yet there exist persons who think that the student ought to give primacy to demonstrations and manifestos. Last summer, for instance, the headquarters of the United States National Student Association mailed to its student leaders a lengthy mimeographed document, somewhat cloaked in sociological jargon, the author of which argued, in effect, that students ought to spend their time perfecting society—and to let learning, if need be, go hang.

This study-document, one is happy to note, is not reflected in the “Codification of Policy” of the National Student Association issued after that body’s 1962 Congress. Indeed, the Codification puts the matter thus: “While recognizing that the student must devote primary attention to this academic program, the USNSA urges student participation in legitimate social and political activities.”