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NewsvineRights, derechos, droits — a term used in common conversation, demanded liberally when someone throws a tantrum and very often taken for granted since most college students don’t have to fight for their rights each morning when they wake up. But history hasn’t always been fair. And that’s where the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Stanford Chapter comes in.
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In between the many start-ups and the gorgeous weather, Stanford lacked an organization dedicated to discussions and awareness of civil liberties. In January of this year, Eve Rips ‘08 realized this deficit and decided to establish a Stanford Chapter of the ACLU to help protect and increase civil liberties for students on campus. With the support from the staff at the Northern California offices of the ACLU and interest from students who responded to emails she diligently sent out, Rips was able to gather good support on campus for the group.
“The ACLU is a national organization aimed at protecting and increasing civil liberties. It deals with issues such as First Amendment liberties, equality in the work place, reproductive rights, gay marriage and Habeas Corpus rights,” Rips said. “The Stanford chapter aims both at helping the ACLU out with these projects on a national or state level, and at promoting knowledge of, and support for, civil liberties across campus.”
The ACLU was founded in 1920 by Rodger Baldwin, with the initial purpose to protect aliens from deportation. Gradually, it has evolved into the largest legal activism organization in the country with membership around half a million.
The founding team this year included Events Coordinator Kacey Wulff ‘08, Advocacy Coordinator Salone Kapur ‘10, who also writes for The Daily, Fundraising Coordinators Danny Taing ‘07 and Conner Peretti ‘09, Financial Manager Robert Steel ‘08 and Calendar Officer Victoria Lai ‘11.
Getting the group off its feet was a challenge, but one for which ACLU members feel all their efforts undoubtedly paid off.
“I expected this first year to be tough, and in a lot of ways it has been. Details like getting funding, deciding where to meet and figuring out how to structure meetings can be frustratingly complicated,” Rips said. “But I’ve also been overwhelmed by how many people have responded to emails with glowing comments and enthusiasm for starting up a civil liberties related group on campus.”
Kapur, next year’s co-president, is committed to the cause of the organization and has been encouraged by the enthusiasm garnered on campus.
“I think that having an ACLU chapter will fill a very concrete need for an organization to fuel civil-liberties-related discussion and awareness on campus,” she said. “The group has provided me with a much needed forum for the discussion of civil liberties issues and related legal constraints and I hope that next year, we will continue and expand our efforts to provide such a forum for the greater Stanford community.”
ACLU has teamed up with other campus groups with related interests — such as the Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN) and Stanford Amnesty International — to co-host various events, featuring renowned speakers on subjects as controversial and sensitive as Guantanamo.
“Through the Stanford ACLU chapter, we hope to promote awareness of issues such as free speech, racial and ethnic justice, religious freedom, women’s and reproductive rights and equality for underrepresented populations,” Kapur said. “Throughout the year, we plan to host speakers and debates on campus, watch ACLU attorneys argue in court and participate in community events.”
Meetings are held bi-monthly on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. During each meeting, one officer conducts a ten minute presentation on civil liberty cases to raise awareness on campus about current issues.
ACLU has reached out to interested students and participants both on- and off-campus, working on projects that range from reproductive rights to criminal and racial justice to First Amendment protection.
“We have been running weekly tabling in White Plaza to raise awareness of various civil liberties issues that are particularly important at that time as well as have done an outreach program with local high school students intended to teach them about their rights while at school,” Rips said. “We’ve also recruited volunteers for ACLU of Northern California events, such as helping to provide legal observers during the Olympic Torch rally in San Francisco.”
As for the future of the group, members see a strong and dedicated team in co-presidents Kapur and Lai. The main goal is to spread campus-wide awareness about the group and its contribution to rights and liberties at Stanford.
“ACLU is focused on working more extensively with civil liberties at Stanford — events that deal with campus hiring practices or the fact that White Plaza is currently the only free speech zone on campus issues — that students will directly relate to,” Rips said. “Hopefully next year both the group itself and its effect across campus will be bigger and better, with more lectures from faculty members and lawyers that students can attend.”
Rips feels that ACLU abounds in promise, especially with regard to promoting understanding of the true value of rights and liberties to students across campus. As she puts it, the mission of the Stanford Chapter is to “protect and expand students’ fundamental freedoms and civil liberties.” Her belief is that this starts one step at a time — with a trip to ACLU meetings at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays!