Students have been, and continue to be at the forefront of movements to build a better future for our country. But students only make real progress when they’re organized, have the skills to be effective, and have a strategic plan to get things done. That’s where we come in: For almost 50 years, the Student PIRGs have been working to amplify the power of student activism. We help students make real change, right now, that will help all Americans to live meaningful lives and have a greener and healthier future.
For example, PIRG students are working to ensure young people are full participants in the political process by helping to turn out the vote in local, state and national elections through our New Voters Project. In the fall of 2020, we made nearly 400,000 peer-to-peer personal reminder contacts in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Our hard work paid off and we saw record turnout among young people. We’re keeping up this momentum and aim to help more than 50 campuses get to full voter participation by building strong coalitions on campus that reach all students — from the College Democrats and the College Republicans, to Greek Life organizations and sports teams, to multicultural groups and student governments.
We want all Americans to live meaningful lives and to have a future that’s greener and healthier. But we can’t secure that future unless we work with everyone — from staunch conservatives to radical progressives — and do the organizing it takes to get beyond political labels so that we can bring our country together around common sense solutions to our shared problems. That work starts on college campuses and it’s what we‘re hiring people to do in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon and 21 other states.
