RYV Reports

Montana Raise Your Voice-Student Action for Change

Progress Report #3
April 15, 2003

As the 2002/2003 school year rapidly draws to a close, students across Montana have a substantial reason to celebrate: because of the work of Montana Raise Your Voice Student Leaders, thousands more have been involved in service work, engaged in democratic debate, registered themselves to vote, helped beautify their communities, donated money to important causes and met with their political leaders to weigh in on important issues. With the help and support of Campus Compact and the Pew Charitable trusts, the call to increase student civic engagement in Montana has been answered enthusiastically.

Some of the most notable change has occurred on campuses that we never would have predicted. Students at the University of Montana –Helena College of Technology have responded most unanimously to the Raise Your Voice campaign. UM-Helena is a commuter campus, largely attended by non-traditional, working students. UM-H students have responded loudly with the need to connect the learning experience and meaningful community engagement, dialogue and reflection. With the help of Student Leaders Keith Goble and Linda Dowell, a committed corps of students have formed and directed their energy to community needs such as providing clothing for low-income families, tutoring in after-school programs and cleaning a stretch of highway. Students at UM – Helena actively participate in informal dialogues and elected officials are increasingly invited to campus to hear student voice. Also very instrumental in the ‘civic realization’ process has been MTCC AmeriCorps*VISTA member Jean Rogers. Rogers behind-the-scenes work has help spread the word among faculty, and administrators as well as students. For the first time in its institutional history, UM-Helena College of Technology will sponsor a Montana Campus Corps team. This MTCC sponsored AmeriCorps program engages students in meaningful co curricular service. In exchange for the service, students receive training, small living allowance and education awards.

UM Helena is the site of the Campus Community Mapping project in Montana. UM-Helena students will lead a campus-wide planning dialogue about assets related to student voice. The mapping will culminate in a civic engagement forum for students and faculty to share best practices, network and develop a civic engagement vision for UM-Helena.

Particularly exciting has been the high degree of participation from Montana’s tribal colleges. Native American students from Salish Kootenai College, Blackfeet Community College, Stone Child College, Fort Peck Community College and Chief Dull Knife College have demonstrated an enthusiasm to engage their campuses more deeply in civic life. Chief Dull Knife College, in the Northern Cheyenne tribal capitol Lame Deer, has been a standout. Student Leaders Regina and Lawrence White Dirt have been particularly active in furthering the campaign’s objectives. A recent achievement for Montana Raise Your Voice was Lawrence’s election to the Chair of the national American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s Student Senate. White Dirt will spend time advocating for student voice in Washington D.C. and has expressed interest in including a civic engagement track in AIHEC’s next gathering, which will be held in Montana in 2004.

Raise Your Voice: A Week of Action Results
When Raise Your Voice Student Leaders gathered in Montana’s state capitol of Helena at in January, 2003, they decided that Montana’s Week of Action activities should highlight voter registration and dialogues, whether individual schools had applied for funding support, or not. The Student Leaders selected these common goals in order to gain widespread support for the campaign, and at individual campuses. The methods of capturing student attention also resonated most with them. What follows are synopses of the work that took place in ten communities during the Week of Action:

1. The University of Great Falls hosted three events during the Week of Action. The first project, a gigantic mural painting at (local nonprofit) For the Children Coalition’s new Family Advocacy Center, furthered the center’s goal of “minimizing trauma by creating child and youth friendly environments” through its focus on aesthetic quality. 29 students volunteered their time and artistic talents. UGF hosted a closing reception, unveiling the mural for the public and media. They also organized a dialogue on the importance of imparting the message of civic engagement to students, incorporating faculty, staff, and administration and reaching an audience of 26 students, faculty and staff. Currently, students sponsoring on a homeless awareness campaign. UGF students have built a shantytown to display stereotypical homelessness in order to educate the UGF and broader community about the serious homelessness problem in Great Falls, Montana’s third largest city. Hundreds of students and community members are becoming more aware of an acute community need, with the help of UGF’s Student Leaders.
2. Montana Tech of the University of Montana in Butte sponsored several successful events during the Week of Action. On Sunday, February 16th, 8 students painted, remodeled, and groomed the Butte Sunshine Camp -a gathering point for underprivileged children, ages 7 to13. The week continued with a voter registration drive (worked by 5 student volunteers) through which 35 students registered to vote. Voter registration was followed by a fundraiser raffle, the proceeds of which went to Camaron Evans, a child born with three holes in his heart. Raise Your Voice Students Leaders Jen Preble and Josh Bullock helped raise $3500 which was donated to Edwards. 24 Students, faclulty members and administrators served during the raffle fundraiser. The week ended with a student dialogue, volunteer recognition and banquet for those who participated in events during the week. The dialogue focused on how students define civic engagement and barriers to engagement on the Montana Tech campus. 25 students and 2 faculty members attended the student dialogue and recognition event.
3. Rocky Mountain College focused its efforts on one major project: giving six underprivileged children from the community the opportunity to create self-reflective art projects in a safe environment and mentors. The children came from the Women and Family Shelter and Big Brothers and Sisters of Yellowstone County. Each child received a box filled with art supplies (which they kept afterwards) and applied their artistic skills to portrait collages, using cardboard cutouts of themselves, magazine pictures, words, and other expressive means to represent themselves. 6 RMC volunteers organized the event. The finished projects were displayed in an art gallery for parents, the Rocky community, and the community at large. Student Leaders at Rocky registered 76 students and 3 faculty members to vote. 10 student volunteers also organized a Dialogue on AIDS, with 40 participants.
4. Montana State University-Northern held a food drive/gala event during the Week in Action. The Havre Food Bank, the Feed My Sheep Community Soup Kitchen, and the Golden Triangle Community Mental Health Center worked with MSU-Northern students. In total, 44 MSUN students served 116 volunteer hours. Students also built a volunteer database by distributing surveys; these surveys were returned by 185 students. This mapping work was aggregated and graphically represented by MTCC VISTA member Juanita Kinniburgh. Havre’s projects were successful in expanding civic engagement, providing the visibility of a volunteer corps, gathering food for the needy in the Havre community and involving local merchants and establishments to recognize the students efforts.
5. The University of Montana’s Student Leadership Team worked closely with the UM Office for Civic Engagement, the American Humanics Student Association and Habitat for Humanity to foster collaboration between Missoula non-profits and UM student groups. In response to Liz Hollander’s letter to presidents, the University of Montana proposed a civic engagement component to its 110th anniversary. During the Week in Action, Student Leaders Katie Roberge and Afton Russell hosted a student panel discussion on UM student involvement, reaching an audience of 23 students, faculty and community members. The Student Leaders helped organize the OCE’s Volunteer Fair, which linked 75+ students and 30+ community members with civic engagement opportunities. The Student Leaders organized a campus wide service day, involving the University President George Dennison, Provost Lois Muir, and 40 students and community members. All together, the Week of Action yielded 95 hours of volunteered service.
6. The project at Chief Dull Knife College worked closely with the Lame Deer tribal district in targeting the college community by setting up a voter registration booth. Student Leaders compiled information on tribal, county, and national election processes as well as phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses, in an effort to help students learn to navigate bureaucratic channels. It was a successful endeavor, raising political awareness and registering 49 new voters. 10 students volunteered at the voter registration booth, each working a one-hour shift. The week ended with a forum at the Charging Horse Casino, where 15 student volunteers and 5 Lame Deer District members gathered to put together “The First 100 Days” Forum, a dialogue on tribal politics and issues. 150 people attended the forum, dialoguing with recently elected tribal officials and questioning candidates running for office. Chief Dull Knife College Students in Action, Lame Deer District, and Gus Harris provided a light dinner.
7. Students at Montana State University-Billings sought to answer the question “Whose Responsibility is It?” by hanging controversial photographs depicting issues such as military torture, homelessness and famine around campus in an effort to begin a campus dialogue around civic engagement. Another component of the Week’s activities was civic engagement dialogues held during in two History classes. Students and Professors explored the topic of homelessness, poverty and starvation in Billings and in the world. A guest speaker from the Montana Rescue Mission contributed his experiences as well. Overall, 50 students, 2 professors, and 3 community members participated in the dialogues.
8. Helena College of Technology-University of Montana put on a series of events during the week. They hosted a Teacher Forum which had 16 teachers and 15 students participating, a service project recruitment day which enlisted 35 volunteers and had over 300 students in attendance, a ‘Civic Exchange Jam’ session with 10 students performing, and a voter registration day that resulted in 15 students registering to vote. All together 101 students were active participants during the week’s activities.
9. Montana State University-Bozeman hosted its second annual Service Learning Seminar. The day-long event consisted of a series of seminars and hour-long workshops designed to promote a wider understanding of service learning. Participants spent time sharing experiences and best practices, and creating new campus-community partnerships. MTCC AmeriCorps*VISTA member Even Howard helped organize the event with the help of an MSU student group, the Student Advocates for Service Learning. 60 students, community members and faculty and staff members participated.
10. Student Leaders at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell held two well-attended events at their campus. A student dialogue on the subject of voting began the week, and engaged 46 students and faculty members. Students gathered to discuss the history, value and importance of voting, and then were presented with an opportunity to register themselves. In all, 30 new voters were registered at FVCC,.

Week of Action drew much needed attention to the Student Leaders ongoing work through bringing the topic of civic engagement into focus for students, faculty, and community members who might not have heard of the notion of an “engaged” college career. The Student Leaders’ work magnified existing civic engagement projects, exposed students to community organizations where they could get involved in the future, and gained the public’s attention through successful publicity in the media. The student civic presence was strengthened and the work was recognized by community members, thanks to a strong statewide media response. Several major Montana dailies, including the Billings Gazette, Missoulian and Great Falls Tribune ran informative pieces on the Student Leaders work.. Several stories received front page, or A section placement as well. Helena’s television news featured a Week of Action story, during the week.

The Week also served to strengthen a statewide vision of civic engagement and to reinforce the ideals of Raise Your Voice campaign. 5 of the 10 campuses sponsored voter registration drives. Either through bringing in political figures to address current events with students or by attaching incentives to reward students for initiating voter awareness, students were induced to participate. Chief Dull Knife College, a tribal college based in rural Eastern Montana, on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, had great success and a meaningful impact with its drive. We witnessed Student Leader Regina White Dirt’s vigorous and innovative strategies for pulling students in and persuading them to fill out the registration forms. Even more impressive than the forms piling up on the table was the feedback she received and the unified student voice demanding continual voter registration and education. Students jumped on the bandwagon, ensuring that voting measures will be sustained over time. Students pledged to organize another voter registration drive next Fall or to bring voter advocacy representatives to host presentations at their schools.

Montana Week of Action Totals:
Students, Faculty, Staff and Community Members engaged: 907
New Voters Registered by RYV Student Leaders: 208
Funds Raised to Support Civic Engagement: $3500 $3500

Goals and Objectives:
Evolving significantly from December, the Raise Your Voice campaign has gained momentum, with students setting goals for their individual campuses, and the state, under each of the campaign’s broad objectives. It seems that each phone conference, Student Forum, or dialogue with a Montana political leader invigorates the Student Leaders to assume more responsibility for the campaign. Earlier in the year students were reluctant to take control of large parts of the project, preferring to act somewhat peripherally, rather than initiating the good work that currently is happening. That hands-off approach disappeared as students gained familiarity with the Campaign’s objectives and realized their abilitie to initiate change on their own.

This progress can be seen well through the example of students calling the Montana Campus Compact headquarters for frequent Week of Action advice. One student frequently called to discuss his ideas in great detail, refusing to go ahead with a project without approval and guidance. After a month of soliciting help from Project staff, he decided to create and manage a project on his own. He finally realized that a student-led campaign is more powerful, effective, and rewarding than one led by a non-student. This experience indicates that as the student leaders felt more comfortable with the concepts and mission of the campaign, they relied more on themselves and on others students to execute projects.

In addition to the Week of Action events, students focused their efforts on leading student dialogues, organizing service days, advocacy work, and discussions with campus administrators and faculty.

• Employing the Dialogue Tool Kit (handed out during our January, 2003 conference) and putting the dialogue skills to practice (acquired during a training), student leaders devised new ways of generating student engagement on campus by selecting controversial topics and by planning informal discussions at convenient times such as during lunch.
• Keith Goble, a student leader from The University of Montana-Helena College of Technology, amassed a corps of students to volunteer with several community organizations in Montana’s capitol for Make a Difference Day.
• At our January 2003 conference, 29 students, politicians, trainers, and office staff gathered for trainings and dialogues on civic engagement, political advocacy, and team-building.
• Following the Week of Action was a phone conference debriefing and planning session for the next statewide student forum, at which 11 students participated in the discussion.
• University of Great Falls Student Leader Dannette Fadness designed a Montana Raise Your Voice logo, which was made into campaign sweatshirts.

Some of the emerging unexpected results related to our goals include excellent retention of student leaders and new practices for working with non-traditional, and commuter campuses. When we began the campaign, our goal was to involve every higher education institution in the state. Despite our resolve to reach every school, only 18 have thus far chosen to participate. Student leaders have also dropped out of the Student Team halfway through the year, due to hectic schedules, inability to attend conferences, and lack of follow-through.

Although we have experienced difficulties in maintaining the original group of student leaders in attendance at the September Building Engaged Citizens retreat at Camp on the Boulder, we have adjusted by being flexible and realistic, allowing for unanticipated changes and understanding the myriad issues that arise with students’ schedules. One example of quick recovery is the January Student Forum. Although we were initially disappointed with the size of the group, we realized that the situation allowed for more efficient work among the students and more time to share best practices and stories, in a more informal setting. We also demonstrated flexibility by asking the students to choose the date for the following retreat; by doing so, we ensured that more students would attend, and that assumption proved to be correct!

Another ongoing challenge is regular communication with students. Staying in touch has proven to be a struggle. Students seemingly disappear for weeks at a time without email or phone access, only resurfacing close to Forum planning time. The geography of Montana doesn’t allow for spontaneous trips to campuses outside of the Missoula area for an afternoon check-in, so it’s difficult to track students down. Alerting students to phone conferences or impending deadlines is complicated, without any foolproof or reliable way to guarantee reaching them. Email has proven the most effective means to spread the word, but it is not without its faults. Some campuses offer much easier public access to the internet than others, and some students simply prefer other means of communication. Communication may be a universal problem, given that all students juggle hectic schedules and innumerable priorities, but Montana’s geography limits meaningful face to face interaction and often acts as a serious obstacle.

Considering the substantial difficulties to engage in what are essentially the off-school hours, students have helped mobile higher education to value, incorporate, and promote civic engagement and student voice. By intentionally engaging students, faculty, administration and community members in dialogue, the Raise Your Voice Leaders have generated an electrifying presence that is changing institutions. Student ideas are making waves within higher education. Student Leaders Afton Russell and Katie Roberge were actively sought out by The University of Montana’s top executives, in order to incorporate a meaningful student engagement component in the University’s 110th anniversary celebration.

After a year envisioning, planning and facilitating the work of the Raise Your Voice campaign in Montana, there are several reasons to be proud. The students we have worked with have shown a remarkable selflessness, often traveling half a day or more to attend our conferences. They have transferred the enthusiasm from the large statewide Student Leadership Team back to their campuses, and have translated the civic charge into something truly unique in each community. There have been times of extreme frustration, as well as moments when our work was reaffirmed. More than anything, after a year, we feel we can accurately report that students are very interested in promoting civic engagement and being engaged parts of the decision making process on their campuses, in their communities, at our state Capitol, in Washington and beyond.

Report assembled by Josh Vanek and Nicole Joseph-Goteiner