Contemporary Student Activism in a Digital Age

Higher education has as part of its purpose to support students becoming active citizens (Barnhardt, 2015). One way that this is practiced is through student activism. With many opportunities for development, student activism has manifested differently across the ages going through periods of high activity and others of apparent latency (Levine, 1980). Arthur Levine (1980) shared a framework for student activism motivation where there were oscillating periods of community and individual ascendency. However, this model has not been considered with the attributes of contemporary college students and with the advance of new media being accessible to the masses. This multi-site case study will explore how contemporary college students engage in student-led activism, what motivates their efforts, and how new media has been utilized. Utilizing focus groups comprised of members of student organizations, individual interviews of campus administrators, observation, and researcher memos focused on four public institutions of higher education within the same regional area.