Keith Toffling

Last week, the United States Student Association – the oldest and largest student organization in the country – awarded the University of Massachusetts Amherst its campus of the year award.

The award was given out at the end of a four day summit in which eight UMass students joined other students from across the country and descended upon Washington D.C. for the USSA’s Annual Legislative and Conference Day. They lobbied legislatures about issues regarding the costs of higher education, specifically in relation to reauthorizing the “Higher Education Act” and federal budget allocations towards education.

The students also attended a series of workshops where they learned how to organize and advocate with administrations on their own campuses. There was a focus on teaching grassroots organizing and the connections between student advocacy and labor movements.

The summit also hosted a series of caucuses for minority groups such as the LGBT, Latino, and African-American communities.

Vanessa Snow, a Student Government Association Senator who attended the summit, said that she believed UMass was recognized based on its actions over the past year such as the November student strike and recent efforts to implement state-wide organizing throughout the Commonwealth.

While most other members of the USSA are involved in state-wide organizing, Massachusetts still does not have a formal body for it.

USSA has had a strong influence over SGA efforts in recent years with the implementation of the Grassroots Organizing Weekend program at UMASS, which is mandatory for all SGA senators to attend. The USSA also sends resources help support and develop the advocacy programs emerging from UMass.

The USSA declares on its Web site that it is “dedicated to training, organizing, and developing a base of student leaders to engage in expanding access to higher education and advancing the broader movement for social justice.”

Mike Fox can be reached at [email protected]