UO Student Organizers Building Just Student Futures on Campus
ROAR Center
Eugene: The coalition leaders of the Radical Organizing and Activism Resource (ROAR) Center met on Friday afternoon to discuss the future of student-led organizing on the University of Oregon campus. This meeting marks a renewed commitment from the coalition to student organizations as both a resource center and an organizing community.
The ROAR Center is a resource for social and environmental activists, and it has been a central part of the UO community since its inception in 1970. In recent years, ROAR has organized events and campaigns covering an array of issues, including racial, labor, and environmental justice. It serves as a primary resource to undergraduate student organizations seeking to initiate change on campus and in the community, aiming to educate and empower student activists.
The ROAR Center has maintained its resources across the years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, yet more recently student activists have become isolated in their various issue areas. The coalition leaders meeting on February 16 reconnected student activists across these areas, and allowed them to identify shared interests and potential organizing campaigns to amplify student voices on campus. Their meeting follows numerous wins by several campus-led organizations, such as the UO Student Worker’s (UOSW) union certification and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation’s (GTFF) recent contract ratification, signifying the potential of student activism to catalyze substantial change across campus.
“This is a big moment for UO’s organizing community,” said ROAR Co-director Valentine Bentz. “Student activists unify members of our campus, and ROAR is excited to activate new and experienced leaders toward long overdue change.”
In line with this reinvigorated organizing momentum, renowned activist, educator, author, and scholar Dr. Angela Y. Davis is coming to campus for a keynote speech and moderated Q+A on Wednesday, March 6th. The talk will focus on the connection between students and the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and will take place in Straub 156 at 6:00pm. The event is made possible by a collaboration between the UO Multicultural Center and the ROAR Center. More details will be made available in the coming weeks via both organizations’ social media. Follow @roarcenter and @uoregonmcc on Instagram to stay in the loop.