Over the last few months I’ve been on an epic adventure with the various political organizations of Kent State, and with other campaigns going as a rogue representative. It’s shown me that Kent’s political activism is still alive and well.

The groups I spent time with such as the Wolf PAC, getting unlimited spending by corporations out of politics, learning the benefits of the hemp plant and how the cultivation of hemp could help not only Ohio’s economy but millions of people with life saving benefits. These campaigns are just a few that are the beginning of a greater movement making solid change for a better future.

As a member of the Kent United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), I was able to watch them make a breakthrough this year. Then, we were able to get the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) passed here at Kent, allowing workers to get better wages and rights through having a forum to discuss the issues they have with their employment conditions with the university administration. We also protested against government corruption outside the Ohio Democratic Legacy Dinner.

As vice president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) for the last four years, I’ve seen the group go through a lot of changes and truly make great progress. In my freshman year, we got the Good Samaritan Policy passed on campus, which allows students to not have to suffer legal consequences for calling medical services for cases of alcohol poisoning and overdoses.

On a larger scale, our organization recently got over 16,000 signatures with a petition started by our chapter for medical amnesty, a Good Samaritan Policy on a state level. Due to our efforts, the two bills are likely to get passed this year. 

Today we face many issues affecting us all in one way or another, whether it be the repression of effective medicine, laws that do more damage than good for us, or the oppression of workers across the nation in mass. We must look to our past when students protested for months to end the expanding Vietnam War, which resulted in the May 4th tragedy here on campus.

As it currently stands, if nothing is done or limited effort is made to change the way our system is headed, we will suffer as a collective. So it is up to us in following our political activist heritage to be the spark that starts the fire that will change the world from what it is to the one it should be.

Dylan Webb is an opinion columnist for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].