Campus advocacy that works
Advocacy—Tried and True! Here are four successful ways students are effectively lobbying their members of Congress.
Organize letter-writing activities. A hand-written letter is a powerful tool to influence Congress. Wooster College students wrote letters about important hunger-fighting legislation during their weekly Soup and Bread Program. After sharing a simple meal together, letter writers used sample letters posted around the room to write their own letters to Congress.
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Davidson College student Elizabeth Henry and University of Arkansas student Daisuke Mizutani meet with a congressional aide during a visit to their senator's office |
Build an action alert email network. The Villanova University BFW chapter created an e-mail network of students who receive important messages from BFW about pending legislation. When immediate action is critical, members of the Villanova University actiona alert network call their members of Congress with a timely message.
Plan a community service event. Use service activities as an opportunity to educate about U.S. hunger and ways that national nutrition programs can help to meet the needs of hungry people. During a reflection time after the event, write letters to your members of Congress about your experience and urge them to support hunger-fighting legislation.
Form a BFW campus chapter. Bring together hunger activists on your campus to meet regularly to study the issue of hunger and design a strategy to educate your campus and lobby your members of Congress. The Calvin College Social Justice Coalition writes letters to their members of Congress every week, making sure their elected officials hear from people on a regular basis who care about hunger and justice.
Use the Media. Letters to the Editors represent your perspective in your campus or local community paper and can be a counter argument for articles that you do not agree with. They also allow you to reach a larger audience and create an impression of widespread support for or against an issue.
Coordinate a Lobby Visit. Bethany College Hunger Ministries team coordinated a group of students, professors and community members to visit their Representative in his local office and express their concerns about hunger in their community and around the US and asked him to protect the national nutrition programs. A face-to-face meeting is one of the most effective ways of influencing your member of Congress. Elected officials are strongly affected by the opinions of constituents who are committed enough to a specific concert to arrange a visit.
Have you had a successful advocacy activity on your campus? Share it with us! Send an e-mail to us at campus@bread.org.
